IMAGE  EVALUATION 
TEST  TARGET  (MT-S) 


1.0 


I.I 


1.25 


^m  m 

''^  IM    III 22 


1^ 


12.0 


1.8 


i-4    IIIIII.6 


VQ 


<9 


/a 


A 


c^    .^   > 


4? 


y 


/^, 


Photographic 

Sciences 
Corporation 


33  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

WEBSTER,  NY.  14580 

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Ik 


CIHM/ICMH 

Microfiche 

Series. 


CIHIVI/ICIVIH 
Collection  de 
microfiches. 


Canadian  Institute  for  Historical  Microreproductions  Institut  Canadian  de  microreproductions  historiques 


1980 


Technical  and  Bibliographic  Notes/Notes  techniques  et  bibliographiques 


The  Institute  has  attempt  id  to  obtain  the  best 
original  copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this 
copy  which  may  be  bibliographically  unique, 
which  may  alter  any  of  the  images  in  the 
reproduction,  or  which  may  significantly  change 
the  usual  method  of  filming,  are  checked  below. 


D 


D 


D 
D 


n 


□ 


Coloured  covers/ 
Couverture  de  couleur 


I      I    Covers  damaged/ 


Couverture  endommagde 


Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaur6e  et/ou  pelliculde 


I      I    Cover  title  missing/ 


Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 


r         Coloured  maps/ 

I — I    Cartes  gdographiques  en  couleur 

□    Coloured  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)/ 
Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 

I      I    Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations/ 


Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couleur 

Bound  witn  other  material/ 
Relid  avec  d'autres  documents 

Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  margin/ 

La  reliure  serree  peut  causer  de  I'ombre  ou  de  la 
distortion  le  long  de  la  marge  intdrieure 

Blank  leaves  added  during  restoration  may 
appear  within  the  text.  Whenever  possible,  these 
have  been  omitted  from  filming/ 
II  se  peut  que  certaines  pages  blanches  ajoutdes 
lors  d'une  restauration  apparaissent  dans  le  texte, 
mais,  lorsque  cela  dtait  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 
pas  6t6  film^es. 

Additional  comments:/ 
Commentaires  suppl^mentaires; 


L'Institut  a  microfilm^  le  meilleur  exemplaire 
qu'il  lui  a  6t6  possible  de  se  procurer.  Les  details 
de  cet  exemplaire  qi'ii  sont  peut-§tre  uniques  du 
point  de  vue  bibliographique,  qui  peuvent  modifier 
une  image  reproduite,  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une 
modification  dans  la  mdthode  normale  de  filmage 
sont  indiquds  ci-dessous. 


I      I    Coloured  pages/ 


Pages  de  couleur 

Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommag6es 


□    Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Pages  restaurdes  et/ou  pellicul^es 

I    ~)f  Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 
I  yl    Pages  ddcolor^es,  tachetdes  ou  piqu6es 


I      I    Pages  detached/ 


D 
D 


Pages  ddtachdes 

Showthrough/ 
Transparence 

Quality  of  prir 

Quality  indgale  de  I'impression 

Includes  supplementary  materic 
Comprend  du  matdriel  supplementaire 


I      I    Showthrough/ 

I      I    Quality  of  print  varies/ 

I      I    Includes  supplementary  material/ 


Only  edition  available/ 
Seule  Edition  disponible 

Pages  wholly  or  partially  obscured  by  errata 
slips,  tissues,  etc.,  have  been  refilmed  to 
ensure  the  best  possible  image/ 
Les  pages  totalement  ou  partiellement 
obscurcies  par  un  feuillet  d'errata,  une  pelure, 
etc.,  ont  6t6  filmdes  d  nouveau  de  faqon  d 
obtenir  la  meilieure  image  possible. 


This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checked  below/ 

Ce  document  est  film^  au  taux  de  reduction  indiqud  ci-dessous. 

10X  14X  18X  22X 


26X 


30X 


^mmtm\ 

7 

12X 


16X 


20X 


24X 


28X 


32X 


The  copy  filmed  here  has  been  reproduced  thanks 
to  the  generosity  of: 

Nova  Scotia  Public  Archives 


L'exemplaire  f\\m6  fut  reproduit  grdce  d  la 
g6n6rosit6  de: 

Nova  Scotia  Public  Archives 


The  images  appearing  here  are  the  best  quality 
possible  considering  the  condition  and  legibility 
of  the  original  copy  and  in  keeping  with  the 
filming  contract  specifications. 


Original  copies  in  printed  paper  covers  are  filmed 
beginning  with  the  front  cover  and  ending  on 
the  last  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, or  the  back  cover  when  appropriate.  All 
other  original  copies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
first  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  last  page  with  a  printed 
or  illustrated  impression. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  — ^  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED"), or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 


Les  images  suivantes  ont  6x6  reproduites  avec  le 
plus  grand  soin,  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  et 
de  la  nettet6  de  l'exemplaire  filmd,  et  en 
conformit6  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmage. 

Les  exemplaires  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  est  imprim^e  sont  filmds  en  commenpant 
par  le  premier  plat  et  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration,  soit  par  le  second 
plat,  selon  le  cas.  Tous  les  autres  exemplaires 
originaux  sont  filmds  en  commen^ant  par  la 
premidre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaitra  sur  la 
dernidre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  symbole  -^  signifie  "A  SUIVRE",  le 
symbole  V  signifie  "FIN". 


Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  6tre 
film^s  6  des  taux  de  reduction  diffdrents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  dtre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  clich6,  il  est  film6  6  partir 
de  Tangle  sup6rieur  gauche,  de  gauche  6  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  n6cessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  m^thode. 


1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

HISTORY  OF  MEDICINE 


IN"    MASSACHUSETTS. 


BY   THE   SAME   AUTHOR. 


A.  Williams  &  Co.  will  send  by  post,  on  receipt  of  the 
price,  any  of  the  following  publications  : — 

An  IlLSToiurAL  AnimKss,  Uickntknnial  and  Ckntknnial, 
dolivored  .July  4,  1870,  at  Grotoii,  Massacliusetls.  Oefavo,  paper 
cover.    80  piigcs.    Price  $1.00. 

An  IIistouical  Addkkhs  delivered  at  Groton,  Mussiicliiisetts, 
February  W,  lf*M»,  at  the  dedletition  of  three  iiioiiiiiiieiits  erected 
by  the  town.    Octavo,  paper  cover.    5((  pages.     Trice  .'K)  ceiif.x. 

CoLST  William  i>l  Duf.x-roNrs'.s  Campauin.s  in  A.mkhica, 
1780-1781.  Translated  from  the  French  Manuscript,  with  an  Intro- 
duction and  Notes.   Octavo,  paper  cover.    Pp.  xvl.  170.    Price  $2. 

KriTAnis  FKOM  tub  old  Buuyijjg  Gmiu.si}  in  Grotcin, 
Massaciu:sktts.  WItli  Notes  and  an  Appendix.  Illustrations. 
Octavo,  cloth.     Pp.  xlx.  ^71.     Price  f.'t.OO. 

TlIK  KAKLV  JtKCOUDSOK  Glt()TON,  MA.SSA(;iirSKTTS,  lflfi','1707. 

With  Note.*.    Octavo,  cloth.    201  pages.    Price  $.'.0(». 


mtitovs  of  mtnitint  in  mautimmtm. 


A 


Centennial  Address 


DEUVKKEI)  BEFOKE 


THE  MASSACHUSETTS  MEDICAL  SOCIETY 


AT    CAMBKIDGE, 


JUNE  7,  1881 


BY 


SAMUEL    AUBOTT    GREEN,  M.D. 


IJ  O  S  1'  O  N  : 
A.    WILLIAMS    AND    COMPANY. 

Old  Cornkr  Bookstore. 
1881. 


J'rtNs  of  JJiuitl.  Clxpp  tt  San. 
•VH  Wii-hiiiKtoii  Stii'ci. 


TO 

3r!je  JWcmorjj  of 
DOCTOR    JOSHUA    GREEN, 

OF    OKOTON, 
WHO    WAS,    DITRINO    IIALK    A    CKNTURY,    A    MICMUEIl    OF    TlIK 

Passuc^usetts  Peblcal  jsocietg, 

AND   FOR  MANY   YKARS  ONK  OK  ITS  COUNCILLORS, 

THIS    AUUUESS    IS    INSC'RIUEU,    WITH    FILIAL    PIETY, 

BY  HIS  SON. 


ii'^ 


A  small  edition  of  this  Address  was  printed  before  its  delivery, 
for  the  convenience  of  the  writer;  though  in  s  present  fori 
some  changes  have  since  been  made.  It  was  delivered  in  the 
Sanders  Theatre,  when  parts  of  it  were  necessarily  omitted  on 
account  of  its  length. 


CENTENNIAL   ADDKESS. 


L 

The    Massachusetts    Medical    Society    is 
about  to  enter  uinm  the  seeond  eentuiy  of  its  ex- 
istence.    Following- tlie  custom  of  this  centennial 
period,  it  proposes  to  celebrate  the  anniversary  of 
its  origin  by  the  story  of  its  life.     It  was  born  in 
trou])lous  times  ;   and  its  founders  were  still  en- 
gaged more  or  less  actively  in  a  political  strug<rle 
which  even  to-day,  by   reflex  action,  is   exertiTig 
a  powerful  influence  on  the  events  of  the  world 
It  was  during  the  War  for  Independence  that  the 
physicians   and  surgeons  of  this  Commonwealth 
were  led  to  feel  the  need  of  some  association  in 
order  to  encourage  professional  studies.     A  new 
field  was  then  opened  ibr  medical  investigations, 
and  the  workers  were  eager  to  cultivate  it.     At  no 
previous  time  had  so  many  medical  men  of  the 
Stj.te  been  brought  into  close  relations  with  one 
another,  or  in  contact  with  their   brethren  from 
other   States  ;    and    this    intercourse   necessarily 
stimulated  inqniry  and  discussion,  and  produced 
a  community  of  professional  feeling,  such  as  had 
never  before  existed.     In  niiioii  there  is  stren-th  • 
this  was  true  in  war,  and  it  was  true  in  peace! 


(> 


CENTENNIAL   AD1>UES8. 


•  ( 


ill! 


^riicy  saw  that  iK'ttcr  results  were  afoomplishotl 
by  {'onccrU'd  action  tlian  by  individual  fH'ort;  and 
they  wevv  then  ready  to  associate  themselves  to- 
getliei'  for  the  purpose  of  inii)rovinj^  the  jjractice 
and  raisinj;'  the  standard  of  its  study.  It  is  a  sin- 
gular fad  in  tlu^  social  economy  of  all'airs,  that 
some  of  the  oldest  and  most  learned  scientille  as- 
sociations, both  in  this  country  and  in  Euro[)c, 
have  been  formed  during  the  clash  of  arms  and 
the  din  of  war  ;  and  this  Society  is  no  exception. 
Nothing  hap[)ens  in  this  world  by  chance,  though 
oftentimes  it  may  be  difUcult  to  discover  the  h\v 
which  underlies  a  princijde. 

The  Massachusetts  Medical  Society  was  incor- 
porated on  November  1,  1781,  and  its  charter  was 
signed  by  Samuel  Adams,  as  president  of  the  Sen- 
ate, and  by  John  Hancock,  as  governor  of  the 
Commonwealth.  These  ])atriotic  names  suggest 
Kevolutionary  times.  It  will  be  noted  that  the 
centennial  anniversary  of  the  birth  of  the  Society 
docs  not  occur  for  some  numths  to  come;  but  it  is 
fair  to  assume  that  tlie  preliminary  steps  for  its  or- 
ganization cover  this  interval.  In  the  pi'csence  of 
this  audience  it  need  not  be  said  that  a  period  of  ges- 
tation always  precedes  a  birth ;  and  without  attempt- 
ing to  fix  the  limit  of  this  period  I  shall  assume 
that  it  is  now  a  century  since  tlie  conception  of 
the  Society  took  place  in  the  brains  of  its  founders. 

There  had  been  before  this  time  a  medical  soci- 
ety in  Boston,  which  was  the  first  one  formed  in 
America.  It  a])pears  to  have  been  in  existence  as 
early  as  the  year  1735,  though  it  did  not  continue 


CEXTENXIAL   ADDRESS. 


loii'i:.  lis  records  niv  invtnovnl)ly  lost,  and  nil 
that  is  known  abc>ut  it  is  jjfatiiorcd  IVoni  fraj^nient- 
nry  Kources.  It  is  very  likely  that  it  included  in 
its  list  of  nicinhcPH  some  of  the  ministers,  as  they 
were  intci'cstcd  in  the  study  and  practice  of  medi- 
cine. J)r.  AVilliam  Douglass,  a  noted  author  and 
physician  of  that  day,  writes,  under  date  of  Feb- 
ruary 18, 17.*]5-IU),  to  Cadvvallader  Colden,  of  New 
York,  that 

.  .  .  Wo  have  lately  in  Tioston  fonnod  a  medical  socinty,  of 
wliicli.  tills  irciitlcinaii  [Dr.  ('lurk,  tlio  bciirur  of  tlm  Itstter],  u 
niciiiix'i'  tlii'icof.  (MM  rf\\{'  yon  ii  |)iirticiiliir  iutcouiit.  We  desij^ii 
fi'oin  time  to  time  to  imldisli  .somo  short  pieces;  there  is  now 
ready  tor  the  jiretiM  iiuniher  one,  with  this  title-pago : — 

Nl'MIJKll  On'e, 

MKDICAL    MKMOIIIS 

CONTAIM.Nd 

1.  A  niiscellany.     Practical  introduction. 

2.  A  history  of  the  dysentery  epidemical  in  I'oston  in  1734. 
y.  Some  account  of  a  ;;iitta-serena  in  a  youiiy  woman. 

4.  The  aniitomical  inspection  of  a  spina  ventosa  in  the  vertebriu 

of  the  loins  in  a  younif  man. 

5.  Some  practical  comments  or  remarks  on  the  writings  of  Dr. 

Thomas  Sydeidiain. 

Fublitihed  l>y  a  Medical-Society  in  Boston,  New-England. 

This  letter  is  now  among*  the  Golden  Papers,  in 
the  possession  of  the  N^ew  York  Historical  Soci- 
ety ;  a  copy  of  it  is  printed  in  the  second  volume, 
fourth  series,  ol'  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Col- 
lections ([)ages  188,  180). 

Gutta  serena,  Englished  into  drop  serene,  was 
the  cause  of  Milton's  blintlness.  The  poet  alludes 
to  himself,  when  he  says: — 

"  Eyes  that  roll  in  vnin 
To  tiinl  thy  piorein^'  ray,  and  tiiid  no  dawn  ; 
So  thick  a  droji  surcne  hath  (luunched  their  orbs." 


ST-^CWCT 


.  1 


fl  CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 

The  disease  was  afterwards  known  as  amam'osis. 
Spina  ventosa  is  an  affection  of  the  osseous  sys- 
tem,— according  to  old  notions, — in  which  the 
texture  of  the  bone  dilates,  seemingly  distended 
with  air. 

The  first  number  of  these  "  Medical  Memoirs  " 
was  never  printed.  It  was  probably  Dr.  John 
Clark,  at  that  time  an  eminent  practitioner  of  med- 
icine, who  is  referred  to  in  the  letter,  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Society.  He  was  born  on  December 
15,  1698,  and  was  then  at  the  height  of  his  pro- 
fessional zeal,  when  he  would  naturally  be  inter- 
ested in  a  scientific  association.  He  belonged  to 
a  family  of  medical  antecedents  and  traditions, 
being  himself  of  the  fourth  generation  in  a  direct 
line  of  John  Clarks,  all  physicians,  and  he  was  fol- 
lowed by  three  more,  equally  direct,  of  John 
Clarks,  these  three  also  physicians, — covering  a 
period  of  more  than  a  century  and  a  half  and  in- 
cluding seven  generations  of  the  same  name. 

During  the  year  173(5,  Dr.  Douglass  ]nil)lished 
a  pamphlet  entitled  '"The  Practical  IIISTOKY 
of  a  l!^ew  Epidemical  Eruptive  Miliary  Fever,  with 
an  Angina  Ulcusculosa  which  prevailed  in  Boston 
!New  England  in  the  years  1735  and  173(3."  It  's 
insci'ibed,  "  To  a  Medical  Society  in  lioston,''''  and 
the  preface  begins  : — 

"  Gentlen^en,  This  Piece  of  Medical  IHntory  does  naluralhj 
address  it.  aelf  to  you,  considering  that  I  have  the  pleasure  lif 
being  one  of  your  nnml>er,  that  you  have  been  fellow  labourers 
in  the  management  of  this  dis/enii)er,  and  therefore  corn/n'tent 
judges  of  this  performance,  and  tiiat  where  dij/iciilt  or  extraor- 
dinary Cases  have  occurred,  in  any  of  your  private  practice,  I 


CENTENNIAL   ADDP.ESS. 


9 


teas  favourerl  to  visil  the  Palientu  in  order  to  make  a  mimife 
Clinical  e)i(/Hiry :  in  short,  loithout  your  af<.-iisfance  this  piece 
would  have  been  less  perfect,  and  not  so  well  vouclicd." 

In  "  The  Boston  AVeekly  N'ews-Lcttcr,"  Janua- 
ry 5,  1737,  there  is  a  long  communication,  ad- 
dressed "  To  the  Judicious  and  Learned  Presi- 
dent and  Members  of  the  Medical  Socictt/  in 
Boston,^''  and  signed  '^'^  J*hllanthropos.^^  It  takes 
strong  ground  in  lavor  of  reguhiting  the  practice 
of  physic  throughout  the  province,  and  advocates 
the  plan  of  having  all  practitioners  examined  by 
a  board  of  physicians  and  surgeons  appointed  l)y 
the  General  Court.  The  writer  is  justly  severe 
on  the  "  Shoemakers,  Weavers  and  Almanack- 
malers,  with  their  virtuous  Consorts,  who  have 
h\id  aside  the  proper  Business  of  their  Lives,  to 
turn  Quacks." 

In  the  same  newspaper  of  N^ovember  13,  1741, 
is  an  interesting  report  of  a  surgical  operation  per- 
formed about  that  time  for  urinary  calculus,  on 
Joseph  Baker,  a  boy  six  years  old.  It  Avas  done 
"in  Presence  of  the  Medical  Society,"  by  Dr. 
Sylvester  Gardiner,  and  "according  to  Mr.  (Jhesel- 
deii's  late  Improvement  of  the  lateral  Way."  The 
report  begins: — 

"  A  ]\rp(liriil  Society  in  TJnston  Ne\v-Kiiifl:ni(l.  loUh  no  quack- 
ish  Hew,  as  is  the  manner  of  sonic  ;  bid  lor  the  C'omjorf  and 
Benejlt  of  the  unhappy  and  miserable  Sujfcrcrs  by  flic  exrru- 
ciatiny  Pain,  occasioned  by  a  Stone  in  the  Bhuldcr,  do  Publish 
the  following  Case." 

Dr.  Gardiner,  the  opei'ator  in  this  case,  was  a 
rising  young  siu'geon  who  had  studied  his  pi'ofes- 
sion  in  London  and  Paris.     He  began  the  pi'ac- 


10 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


f   i; 


i 


tice  of  medicine  in  Boston,  whci-c  he  also  lectured 
on  anatomy,  Avhich  he  illustrated  by  i)repai'ations 
brought  from  Europe.  Ilis  enterprise  led  him  to 
establish  an  apothecary's  shop,  in  which  he  car- 
ried on  an  extensive  wholesale  and  retail  business. 
His  career  as  a  physician  and  surgeon  was  attend- 
ed with  remai'kable  success,  and  he  soon  acquired 
from  his  profession  both  fame  and  fortune.  His 
pi'osperity,  however,  was  interrupted  by  the  poli- 
tical troubles  which  preceded  the  Revolution,  and 
during  the  struggle  he  took  sides  with  tlic  mother 
country.  He  thus  became  odious  to  the  patriots  ; 
and  when  Boston  was  evacuated  by  the  British 
troops,  he  was  compelled  to  leave  his  native  coun- 
try and  pass  eight  or  ten  years  in  exile.  He  finally 
returned  and  died  at  Xew])ort,  Khode  Island, 
August  8,  178(3,  in  the  80th  year  of  his  age. 

Although  the  Medical  Society  in  Boston  was 
short-lived,  no  account  of  the  history  of  medicine 
in  the  State  would  be  complete  which  did  not 
mention  its  existence.  In  its  day  it  exerted  a 
good  influence  on  the  profession,  and  showed  a 
zeal  on  the  part  of  the  physicians  which  is  alike 
honorable  to  their  heads  and  creditable  to  their 
hearts.  The  origin  of  the  Society  may  have  had 
some  connection  w^ith  the  ei)idemic  of  dii)htheria 
which  broke  out  in  Bostoji  during  the  suminer  of 
1735;  at  any  rate,  it  was  organized  about  that 
time.  It  is  known  to  have  been  in  existence  late 
in  the  autunni  of  171:1,  though  ten  years  afterward 
there  was  no  trace  of  it.  Dr.  Lloyd,  who  began 
the  practice  of  medicine  in  Boston  about  the  year 


I-  . 


li 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


11 


17o2,  and  eontimiod  in  it  for  more  than  half  a  eon- 
turv,  had  no  recollection  of  such  an  association. 
This  last  fact  is  mentioned  by  Dr.  Uartlett,  in  his 
address  before  the  Massachusetts  Medical  Society, 
June  G,  181(1,  and  shows  that  it  had  disappeai'ed 
before  Dr.  Lloyd's  time.  The  founders  of  this 
local  society,  the  pioneer  association  of  its  kind 
in  the  country,  rei)resented  the  active  medical 
thought  in  Boston ;  and  though  they  are  nnknown 
to  us  even  by  name,  deserve  on  this  occasion  a 
tribute  which  is  freely  given. 

A  long  generation  passes,  and  the  Massachu- 
setts Medical  Society  t^kes  the  field,  and  occupies 
the  broad  limits  of  the  State,  including  the  dis- 
trict of  Maine.  Many  of  the  original  members 
had  served  in  the  army,  and  were  familiar  with 
the  capital  operations  of  the  hospital  and  the  bat- 
tle-field, while  others  had  filled  important  public 
positions  of  a  civil  character.  In  any  presence 
they  would  have  been  considered  accomplished 
physicians  and  surgeons,  and  they  were  the  peers 
of  other  professional  men.  Together  with  the 
clei-gy  they  represented  the  education  and  refine- 
ment of  the  community.  But  before  entering 
upon  the  history  of  this  venerable  eorj)oration,  I 
may  be  allowed  to  go  back  and  give  a  sketch  of 
the  rise  and  progress  of  medicine  in  ^Massachu- 
setts  during  the  colonial  and  provincial  periods. 

When  the  Pilgrims  landed  at  Plymouth  in  the 
winter  of  1G20,  they  found  that  a  few  years  before 
their  arrival  a  deadly  pestilence  had  raged  all  along 
the  New  Eng-land  seaboard,  and  that  the  natives 


I 


12 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


had  been  more  tliaii  decimated  by  the  epidemic. 
Cotton  Mather  sayts: — 

"  Tlie  Indian)^  in  these  Parts  had  newly,  even  atont  a  Year  or 
Two  beforf!,  been  visited  with  such  a  i)rodigious  Pestileiieo;  as 
carried  away  not.  a  Tenth,  but  Nine  Parta  of  Ten  (y<!a,  'tis  said 
Nineteen  of  Twenty)  among  them:  So  tliat  the  Wuuds  were 
ahnost  cleared  of  ihose  pernicious  Creatures  to  make  Room  for  a 
belter  Growth."* 

The  diagnosis  of  this  disease  has  been  mnch 
discussed.  By  some  writers  it  has  been  called  the 
l)lague  ;  but  this  is  a  vague  term  and  means  nei- 
ther one  thing  nor  another.  Johnson  calls  it 
"  a  sore  Consumption,  sweeping  away  whole  Fam- 
ilies." ^  Goolvin,  Avho  wrote  many  years  later,  and 
who  had  talked  with  those  who  remembered  the 
cases,  says  that  "  the  bodies  all  over  were  exceed- 
ing yellow,  describing  it  by  a  yellow  garment  they 
showed  me,  both  before  they  died,  and  after- 
wards."^ According  to  Winslow,''  the  same  dis- 
ease prevailed  among  the  Indians  as  late  as  No- 
vember in  the  year  1G22,  wh^'h  fact  seems  to 
eliminate  yellow-fever.  This  would  seem  to  leave 
small-pox  as  the  disease  in  question,  of  Avhich 
the  description  is  in  some  respects  good.  Dur- 
ing many  years,  there  had  been  s<.ine  slight  inter- 
course between  the  Indians  and  stray  Europeans 
who  came  to  the  coast  on  fishing  voyages,  and  it 
is  more  than  probable  that  the  loathsome  disease 
Avas  thus   introduced.     Within  the  period  of  re- 


•  Mai;iiuliii,  IJook  i.,  ("Imp.  ii.  7. 

^  WdikUt- Working   I'loviik'iu'c  of    Sions    Saviour,    in   New   England, 
Clui]).  viii.  l(). 

■^   Miissiicluis(>tts  Histoiifiil  Collections,  i.  148. 

*  Good  Newes  tioiu  New-Eiiglaud,   page  18. 


^ 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


13 


corded  history,  it  is  known  that  Avhole  villages  of 
the  natives  have  been  swept  away  by  this  sickness. 
The  Indians  had  no  knowledge  of  medicine,  but 
were  accustomed  to  treat  disease  largely  by  in- 
cantations and  powwows.  There  is,  however,  a 
popular  belief  to-day  that  the  Indian  doctor  is 
skilled  in  botanical  remedies,  as  he  is  wont  to  use 
the  infusions  and  decoctions  of  various  roots  and 
herbs.  AVhile  there  is  no  ground  for  such  an  im- 
j)ression,  he  will  yet  be  consulted  as  long  as  the 
race  of  simpletons  continues  to  exist — perhaps  till 
the  millennium.  The  ravages  of  small-pox  among 
the  ignoi'ant  natives  were  fearful,  as  they  had  no 
kno.vledge  of  inoculation  or  vaccination  ;  and 
thus  a  new  danger  opposed  the  white  settlers,  who 
were  already  overburdened  by  their  cares  and 
trials. 

During  the  first  winter  at  Plymouth,  the  colo- 
nists lost  half  their  number  by  disease,  and  of  the 
other  half  most  of  them  were  sick,  and  so  weak 
that  they  could  not  take  proper  care  of  themselves 
or  of  each  other.  Scarcely  twelve  men  were  left 
alive  in  the  settlement,  and  only  about  three  times 
as  mau}^  women  and  children  to  share  in  their 
misery.  Fifty  persons,  all  told,  included  the  whole 
l)opulation  of  Plymouth  in  the  spring  of  1621. 
They  suffered  fearfully  from  scurvy,  and  this  was 
largely  the  cause  of  the  great  mortality  which 
befell  them.  Says  Wood,  in  his  "  New  Englands 
Prospect : " — 

..."  wliereas  many  died  at  the  begiiiniiig  of  the  plantations,  it 
was  not  because  the  Country  was  unliealthfull,  but  because  their 

3 


14 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


*  f 


Mf 


bodies  were  co  niptod  witli  sciwliot,  wliich  was  nauj^ht,  the  Beefe 
and  Pork  iK-iiij;  tjijiitcd.  tlicir  Iiiittrr  and  Cheese  eornipted,  their 
Fisli  rotten,  and  voya<fo  lonij  hy  reason  of  crosse  Winds,  so  tliat 
winter  approaciiinjr  before  they  coidd  get  w.arme  Iionses,  and  the 
searciiing  sharpnes  of  that  purer  Climate,  creeping  in  at  tlie  cran- 
nies of  their  crazed  bodies,  caused  death  and  sickuesse  "  (page  4). 

The  colonists  had  left  comfortable  homes  and 
settled  in  a  distant  wilderness  dui'ing  the  incle- 
ment season  of  winter.  With  none  of  the  cus- 
tomary conveniences  of  life,  they  had  almost 
everything  to  exert  a  depressing  influence.  The 
sensitive  ones  must  have  yearned  for  their  native 
land;  and  it  is  not  strange  that  the  scorbutic  taint, 
with  the  intercurrent  and  sui)eradded  nostalgia, 
proved  so  fatal.  Homesickness  is  always  a  strong 
element  in  weakening  the  power  to  resist  disease. 
Among  the  passengers  who  came  over  in  the 
"  Mayflower ''  was  Deacon  Samuel  Fuller,  who 
survived  the  sickly  season.  He  was  the  first  phy- 
sician in  the  colony,  and  was  for  some  time  the 
sole  physician  ;  and  often  he  must  have  been  trou- 
bled to  devise  means  for  the  care  of  his  patients. 
His  practice  w^as  extensive,  taking  him  to  Salem, 
Boston,  and  other  towns  in  the  neighboring  colo- 
ny. During  the  first  ten  years  of  its  existence, 
the  Plymouth  settlement  had  reached  a  population 
of  only  two  hundred  and  fifty  persons,  and  some 
of  these  lived  in  places  remote  from  the  town. 
Besides  his  practice  Deacon  Fuller — I  am  sure  he 
would  have  prefeiTcd  his  church  title  to  any  pro- 
fessional one — eked  out  a  livelihood  by  tilling 
the  soil,  after  the  manner  of  his  neighbors.  He 
died  in  the  year  1G33,  and  by  his  death  the  settle- 


CENTENNIAL   ADDKESS. 


15 


mciit    lost   one    of   its   most   valued   and   useful 
inhabitants. 

In  the  early  days  of  IScw  England,  it  was  not 
customary  to  address  or  speak  of  a  physician  by 
the  title  of  doctor.  Perhaps  one  reason  for  this 
was  that  there  were  so  vei-y  few  persons  who  had 
ever  taken  a  medical  diploma.  The  custom  of 
giving-  the  title  has  literfvlly  grown  np  by  degrees. 
The  earliest  instance  of  its  use  that  I  have  found, 
is  in  tlie  Roxl)ury  Church  Kecords, — recently  pub- 
lished as  ^'  A  lieport  of  the  Kecord  Commission- 
ers "  (Boston,  188J),  —  where  an  entry  is  made 
under  tlie  date  of  November  5, 1G08,  which  alludes 
to  "Doctor  Emery,"  of  Salem.— (Page  207.) 

A  surgeon  was  formerly  called  a  "chirurgeon," 
which  word  by  use  has  been  worn  down  to  its 
present  form.  It  means  literally  one  who  i)erforms 
the  manual  part  of  medicine,  and  originally  refer- 
red to  the  external  treatment  of  disease.  It  is 
well  deriv^ed,  and  was  the  name  always  applied  in 
colonial  times  to  one  whom  we  call  a  sui'geon.  In 
England,  even  at  the  present  time,  a  surgeon  is 
not  addressed  as  Doctor  ;  but  he  always  has  the 
title  of  Mister  (L  e.  Mr.)  given  to  him. 

Governor  Edward  Winslow  was  skilled  in  the 
pi'actice  of  medicine,  and  even  among  the  Indians 
had  a  wide  reputation  for  his  treatment  of  disease. 
He  was  once  summoned  to  visit  Massasoit,  a  pro- 
minent chief,  who  was  seriously  sick,  but  who 
recovered  under  his  care.  As  a  mark  of  his  grat- 
itude, the  faithful  sachem  revealed  to  the  English 
a  plot  that  was  forming  against  them,  but  which 


fl^SS" 


'. 


! 


16 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


was  averted  by  the  timely  infon.iation.  A  full  re- 
port of  the  ease  with  the  treatment  is  found  in 
Winslow's  "  Good  Xewes  from  New-Enghuid.'' — 
(London,  1621,)  pages  25-32. 

Plymouth  colony,  owing  to  its  small  and  sparse 
popuhition,  had  only  a  few  physicians.  At  the 
time  of  its  union  with  Massachusetts  under  the 
second  charter,  it  contained  but  9,000  inhabitants, 
and  it  can  easily  be  inferred  that  its  influence  on 
the  general  practice  of  medicine  Avas  of  little  ac- 
count. The  founders  of  Massachusetts  were  men 
of  more  education  and  larger  means  than  those 
who  settled  Plymouth,  and  in  the  natural  course 
of  events  it  is  not  strange  that  they  should  have 
politically  absorbed  the  older  colony.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  founders  of  Plymouth  were  men 
of  deep  religious  thought  and  convictions,  and 
they  set  in  motion  a  system  of  ecclesiastical  polity 
which  has  since  overrun  Massachusetts  ;  and  to- 
day the  church  government  prevailing  in  this  State 
is  moi'e  closely  allied  to  that  which  existed  in  Ply- 
mouth than  to  any  other  form.  I  make  this  di- 
gression in  order  to  show  that  it  is  not  always 
numbers  that  count.  In  the  plan  of  creation  the 
fittest  will  survive. 

Before  the  colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay  was 
faii'ly  launched  in  England,  the  questitm  of  a  med- 
ical man  to  accompany  the  planters  was  discussed 
by  the  Company.  At  one  of  its  earliest  meetings, 
held  March  5,  1628,  it  is  recorded  that  : — 

A  l*ri)posicon  beeiiige  niado  to  Iiitertiiyiie  a  siirircon  for  [tlie] 
plautacoii    M'  I'latt    was   J)pouu(led   as   aii   abell    man   vp[onJ 


CENTEXXIAL   ADDllESS. 


17 


thois  Cotidicons  Niimclcv  Tliat  I0"'  slioiild  Ixo  al!rt\vcil  liiin  viz' 
for  liis  Cliist  2"»"  tli(!  Hot  [fur]  liis  owiic  siiIIiM'y  for  tlui  first  yt'ero 
puiiled  yt  he  |  (•oiitiiuiu]  .'J  vMHircn  tho  Comf).  to  boe  at  Ciiurgo  of 
tniiisportiiijf  his  will'n  it  a  cli[iM]  hauo  20'  a  yocro,  for  the  other 
2  yeert's  it  to  l)uil(l  him  a  lio|iiseat]  the  Com p  C'hariltre  &  to 
aliott  him  100  acr".  of  fjroiiii(l  but  if  Ik;  stay  hiif  one  yeiM-e  lh(Mi 
the  comp  to  In-o  at  Cliardge  of  his  hriii<,'inir  l)aeli  for  Kuirlaiid  it 
he  to  lA'aiie  his  s'^ii[aiit]  and  the  Chi^t  for  the  Comp  seruice." 

Aiii'ced  w"'  Hohert  .Morley  sonant  to  M'  Aiidi'ewe  Matlu'Wes 
lat(!  I)arl»er  surgeon  to  s^ie  tiie  Comp.  in  Newe  England  for  tlireo 
y[ears]  the  first  yeere  to  liaue  20  nohltis  tlie  second  yeere  [.')U? 
and  the  third]  yeere  20  markes,  to  seruc^  as  a  harbta'  it  a  surgeon 
[on  all]  oeeasyons  belonging  to  his  Calling  to  aney  of  this  [Com- 
pany] that  are  planters  or  there  seruants,  and  for  his  [ehest 
and  I  all  in  it  when^of  he  hath  geeuen  an  Tnuentory  .  .  .  sight  of 
it  It  bee  approoued  ffyvc?  |)onnds  Is  .  .  .  and  i)ayd  to  him  fi'or 
it  &  the  same  to  bee  fo[rth\vitli  piiyd.] — (Cleneral  Court  Rec- 
ords, i.  3».) 

Mr.  Pratt's  j^iven  name  was  John;  and  after 
coming"  to  Xew  England  he  lived  at  Cambridge. 
The  last  entry  in  these  I'ecords  reminds  ns  of  the 
time  when  barbers  were  doctors  by  brevet,  as  it 
Avere,  and  performed  many  operations  of  minor 
surgery,  such  as  pulling  teeth,  bleeding,  and  cup- 
])ing.  A  nol)le  was  worth  about  6s.  Sd.;  and  a 
mark  was  double  the  value  of  a  noble. 

For  many  years  before  the  Puritans  came  to 
this  country,  they  were  subjected  to  bitter  perse- 
cution 
mcnt, 

They  saw  the  i)rol)able  needs 
of  the  future,  and  fitted  themselves,  as  best  they 
could,  for  any  emergency  that  might  arise  in  a 
new  settlement;  hence  they  formed  a  large  pro- 
portion of  the  early  physicians  of  Massachusetts. 
History  repeats  herself,  and  we  see  to-day  Ameri- 
can missionaries  who  first  study  medicine  as  a  par- 


,  and  foreseeing  the  possibility  of  an  eject- 
.,  a   considerable   number  of  their  ministers 
studied  medicine. 


M 


ij  il 


"T  T- 


18 


CEXTEXNIAL   ADDRESS. 


M 


I  I 


f  ( 
f  I 


tial  pr('i);iriiti()ii  lor  tlicir  now  duties.  In  fact  it  is 
a  custom  as  old  as  civilization  itself,  that  the 
priests  are  the  ones  to  collect  and  })reserve  the 
traditions  of  medicine.  Those  Puritan  ministers 
wore  men  of  liberal  education,  and  some  of  them 
authors  of  the  earliest  medical  treatises  printed  in 
America.  Jt  was  witli  them  a  matter  of  conscien- 
tious duty  to  heal  the  body  as  well  as  to  save  the 
soul.  Kach  one  ])ractise(l  in  his  own  flock,  and 
for  his  fee  generally  veceived  that  Avhich  is  con- 
sidered better  than  money,  though  not  equally 
current  at  the  counter.  Occasionally  they  took 
part  in  the  medical  controversies  of  the  day,  and 
defended  their  views  with  much  skill  and  ability. 
Cotton  Mather  spc^aks  of  this  union  of  the  two 
l)rofessions  as  an  "Angelic  Conjunction,"  and 
says  that  "  ever  since  the  days  of  Ij/d'.e  the  Evan- 
gelist, Skill  in  Phy.slch  has  been  frecpiently  i)ro- 
fessed  and  practised,  by  Persons  whose  moi-e  de- 
clared Business  was  the  Study  of  Divinity,"' 

At  the  period  when  Massachus(!tts  was  settled, 
medicine  was  an  art  rather  than  a  science,  and  just 
ready  to  take  a  new  departure  luider  the  guidance 
of  Sydenham.  Certain  facts  about  disease  were 
learned  by  rote,  as  it  were,  and  the  treatment  was 
neai'ly  the  same  In  all  cases  without  regard  to  the 
minute  symptoms.  The  public  believed  in  speci- 
fics; and  remedies  were  prescribeil,  as  if  they  Avere 
infallible  or  sovereign.     Says  Shakespeare: 

"  The  sovertiiju'st  thiui;  on  earth 
Was  parmact'ti  for  an  inward  liriiiso." 


^  Magiiaila,  Book  iii.,  Chap.  xxvi.  lol. 


CENTENNIAL   ADDliESS. 


19 


A1)oiit  this  time  tlcro  -were  in  Europe  two 
schools  of  iiu'<lic;il  praclico,  ol'  wliicli  tlic  one  was 
in  the  liahit  oC  pivscrihlnjj;'  V('<;('tahle  siihstaiu't'S 
nlone,  and  the  other  lor  the  most  part  mineral  ])re- 
parations.  Tlie  first  ol' these  seliools  was  (l(>nom- 
inated  tlie  Cialenists,  as  tliey  were  snp|)osed  to 
follow  the  teaehing's  ol'CJalen  ;  and  they  might  be 


ti 


h1  the  hot; 


do('t( 


)l'that  di 


IMie  oth 


I'mea  tlie  l)olanie  doctors  or  mat  iiay.  L  lie  oilier 
school  ado|)ted  the  doctrines  of  Paracelsus,  and 
gave  "chemical "  medicines,  which  included  miiu'ral 
substances  and  a  lew  of  the  most  active  vegetable 
compounds.  The  supporters  of  the  second  school 
were  sometimes  called  chemists.  Thei'e  w^as  ol 
course  a  bitter  rivalry  l)etween  the  two  sects;  and, 
if  everything"  that  was  said  about  the  one  l)y  the 
other  was  true,  the  poor  i)atients  had  to  sutler. 
It  is  very  likely  that  the  prejudice  existing  to-day 
against  mineral  medicines  dates  back  to  this 
hostility. 

The  folloAving  advertisement  appears  in  "  The 
Boston  Gazette,"  June  19,  174-1,  and  alludes  to 
the  medicines  of  the  two  schools.  The  advertiser, 
Mr.  Clardincr,  who  lias  ))een  mentioned  l)efore  In 
these  pages,  was  not  only  the  most  noted  drug- 
gist in  ^ew  England,  but  also  an  accominished 
physician  and  surgeon: — 

"  t7"(t.s<  imparled  in  the  Ship  from  London.  And  to  oe  Sold  by 
Mr.  Sylresler  Ganliner,  At  the  Sign  uf  the  I'niooiii  and  MortiU- 
in  jMiirlborongli-Strect. 

All  Sorts  of  Dniiis  ;ui(t  Medicines,  l)0th  C'liymietil  ;ind  CJnleni- 
cal;  where  all  Doctors,  Apothecaries  or  others,  may  be  sii|i|i'y'<l 
Avith  the  very  l)e>t  and  freshest  of  Either  at  the  lowest  I'riee  ; 
and  Captains  of  Ships  with  Doctor's  Boxes  i»ut  n|t  in  the  neatest 
and  best  Manner;  with  printed  Directions:    Likewise  all  Mer- 


20 


(  KXTKNNrAIi    ADHIIKSH. 


f 


rlianfs  may  lie  furiiisli('(l  at  (li(>  sdinn  PIiico  with  Sh'^jooiim  Clio^ts 
|)iit  ii|i  in  llic  same  .Manner,  ami  at  tin-  ■^aiim  Price,  at  tliey  am 
t'(ir  \\n'  l{(iyal  Navy,  at  the  Apollieeary's  Mail  in  Loiidan  ;  wliero 
onli/  are  to  lie  Scilil  ii\  A|i|Htinlment  of  tlm  I'litentecu,  tho  tnio 
Doctor  Jld/emau'ii  IVr'tonil." 

^riie  (.'ally  i)l>ysl('ianH  of  Now  En^hind,  liow- 
C'vor,  do  not  Hccm  to  liave  entered  into  tlii.s  niedi- 
eal  eontrovei'sy,  l)ut  *>{ive  siieli  remedies  as  tliey 
saw  lit,  witlioiit  re^iU'd  to  either  seliool,  tlioiigli 
they  followed  a  rontine  prtietiee.  4Mie  relation 
of  ejuise  and  elfeet  was  slighted  l)y  them,  and  an 
air  of  mystery  tmd  superstition  jjervaded  the  whole 
donntin  of  theriii)enties.  I'lie  literature  of  tho 
l)rofession  was  seanty,  and  for  that  reason  easily 
mastered.  They  had  no  knowledge  of  })jithology, 
and  bnt  little  of  anatomy.  It  mnst  not  bo  forgot- 
ten that  there  wore  bnt  very  few  regular  grtidu- 
ates  of  medieino  in  the  eountry  for  more  than  a 
hnndred  years  after  its  settlement.  From  the  year 
l(i()7  to  17)J0,  a  period  of  sixty-three  years, — ae- 
eording  to  Judd,  in  his  History  of  lladley,  Massa- 
ehnsetts, — there  was  neither  physieijin  nor  sur- 
geon in  Nortluunpton,  a  large  and  rieh  town  ; 
though  at  one  time  an  nnsnecessfnl  attempt  Avas 
made  to  obtiiin  a  bone-setter. — (Page  GKJ.)  In 
such  ])laces  there  was  always  some  good  house- 
■\vife  Avho  acted  as  nurse  on  important  occasions, 
and  she  generally  pei-formcd  Avell  tho  part  of  a 
doctor.  Only  to  this  audience  I  will  whisper, 
whtit  must  not  be  I'opeated  abroad,  that  there  was 
as  little  sickness  and  as  much  longevity  in  Nortli- 
ani[)ton  tis  in  other  towns  that  were  favored  by 
physicians.     Every  household  had  its  simple  do- 


(KNTFA'MAL    ADDItKSS. 


21 


■'^ 


mostic  ivincdics  for  common  oomplaints,  and  few 
AV(  re  llu'  Jainiru's  that  did  not  possess  sonio  old 
book  ('(Mitaiuing  mainiscript  receipts  i'or  ordinary 
ailiiu^nts. 

The  remedies  used  l)y  the  early  practitioners  of 
Kcw  England  were  lai-'^ely  made  n[)  of  simples, 
as  they  were  called,  in  contradistinction  to  coni- 
pounds,  and  consisted  princi[)ally  of  herbs  dear  to 
old  women,  thou<;h  none  the  less  valuable  on  that 
account.  Occasionally  they  strike  us  as  absurd? 
and  sometimes  excite  feelin«j;s  akin  to  disgust.  An 
electuary  of  millepedes  looks  learned,  and  sounds 
as  if  it  might  bo  sweet ;  but  looks  are  nothing  and 
sound  is  empty,  when  we  consider  that  'millepedes 
is  the  scientific  name  for  sowbugs,  so  common  in 
the  country,  under  damp,  soggy  planks.  Excre- 
tions and  secretions  were  emi)loyed  as  curative 
agents,  and  had  their  particular  parts  to  play  in 
the  treatment  of  disease.  These  remedies  were 
j)rescril)ed  at  times  by  the  best  physicians  two 
hundred  years  ago.  In  England,  during  this  period, 
the  ])ractice  of  medicine  was  equally  crude.  When 
Charles  II.  was  on  his  death-bed,  according  to 
Macaulay,  he  was  bled  largely,  and  a  loathsome 
volatile  salt,  extracted  from  human  skulls,  was 
forced  into  his  mouth. 

In  "  The  Boston  Gazette,  or,  "Weekly  Adver- 
tiser," December  18,  1753,  is  a  long  communica- 
tion, covering  two  pages  of  the  newspaper,  setting 
forth  "  Examples  of  Great  Medicines  drawn  from 
unpromising  Bodies.''^  It  is  made  up  of  extracts 
li'om  a  work  published  at  Oxford,  England,  in  the 


r 

-a 

:' 

! 
i 

! 

ISP-BBIPiiB 


it  .  i 


I 


I 


22 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


year  1G64.     The  article  is  printed  with  the  foilow- 
iiiir    siib-headiniTs  :    "  Medicines   out    of  Soot  ;  " 


■»' 


"  The  Use  of  llorse-dwuj ;  "  "  Medical  Virtues  of 
Human  Urine ; "  "  Medicines  out  of  Humane 
Blood  ;  "  and  "  The  6/rea^  W^^^^^  «^'  '"^'^^  i?<'//i7S." 
Under  the  second  sub-heading  the  writer  goes  on 
to  show  that  "  there  arc  not  any  Medicines  to  be 
taken  into  the  Body  more  cheap  and  contemptil)le 
than  the  Excrements  of  Men  and  Horses^  and  than 
Insects  ;  and  yet  that  even  these  want  not  consid- 
erable Medical  Virtues."  He  furthermore  asserts 
that  "  the  juice  of  Horse-dung,  especially  of  Stone- 
hor'ses,''^ — i.  e.  stallions, — is  good  for  the  stoppage 
of  urine,  and  certain  other  complaints. 

The  early  physicians  used  to  jilace  much  reli- 
ance on  the  powers  of  nature  to  expel  the  mater ies 
morhi  from  the  system,  })articularly  by  way  of  the 
ki  ^  leys  ;  and  a  glass  vessel  to  hold  the  in-ine  was 
considered  a  necessary  article  in  the  sick-room. 
A  very  superficial  examination  of  the  fluid  was 
made,  by  holding  it  up  between  the  light  and  the 
observer,  in  order  to  see  its  color,  and  whether  it 
was  clear  or  turbid;  and  from  the  condition  of  the 
water  the  conclusions  were  drawn. 

The  folloAviug  signs  of  urine  are  taken  from  a 
book,  by  AY.  Mather,  and  published  pi'obably  at 
London  in  the  year  1084.  It  is  a  volume  of  4G(j 
pages,  but  the  title-page  is  missing : — 

"  1.  Red  Urine  sigiiifioth  heat  of  the  Blood. 
"  2.  White,  rawness  and  indigestion  in  the  Stomacli. 
"  y.  Tliick,  like  ])n(ldle.  excessive  labour  or  sirkness. 
"  \.  White  or  red  gravel  in  the   bottom  threatens  the  Stone  la 
the  Reins. 

"  5.   Hlaok  or  green,  commonly  death." 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


23 


Dr.  George  Emery,  a  Salem  physician  of  unsa- 
vory reputation,  in  November,  1(357,  was  fined 
forty  shillings 

"  for  changing  a  bottle  of  water  of  Goody  Laskin.  &  respitted 
untill  next  Court  &  to  be  rt  nittt^l  if  he  sliall  acknowledge  he  did 
euill  in  it,  or  not  well  in  soe  doing  &  ffees  Court  30"*." — (Essex 
County  Records,  Salem  Court.) 

John  Josselyn,  an  Englishman,  came  to  this 
country  in  the  summer  of  1003,  and  afterward 
wrote  a  book,  which  was  entitled  ^'New  Ewjlands 
KARITIES  Discovered  :  in  Birds,  Beasts,  Fishes, 
Serpents,  and  Plants  of  that  Country.  Together 
with  the  The  Physical  and  Chijruryical  Reme- 
dies wherewith  the  Natives  constantly  use  to  Cure 
their  Distempeiw,  Wounds,  and  Sores."  It  was 
published  at  London  in  the  year  1G72,  and  con- 
tains a  large  number  of  homely  remedies  to  be 
found  in  i\\Q  fauna  iumX  flora  of  the  country.  The 
following  morsels  of  medical  wisdom  are  taken 
from  different  parts  of  it  : — 

Picking  the  gums  with  the  bill  of  an  osprey  is  good  for  the 
tooth-ache;  I}(!ar's  grease  is  good  for  aches  and  cold  swellings; 
Beaver's  cods  are  much  used  for  wind  in  the  stomach  and  belly, 
jiarticularly  of  pregnant  women ;  Moose  horns  are  much  better 
for  ])hysick.  than  the  horns  of  other  deer;  A  stone  found  in  the 
heatl  of  the  cod-lish,  when  pulverized,  stops  iiuxcs  of  blood,  and 
one  found  in  their  bellies  is  a  remedy  for  the  stone  in  the  blad- 
der; Scarifying  the  gums  with  a  thorn  i'loni  tlie  doglish's  liack 
cures  tootli-a(^he;  The  heart  of  a  rattlc-snakf  is  an  antidot((  to  its 
bite  ;  liurning  "  s])unck,  an  excresence  growing  out  of  black 
birch,"  in  two  or  three  ])laces  on  the  thigh  of  a  patient,  helps  sci- 
atica; Watermelon  ih  often  given  to  those  sick  of  fe\ers,  and 
other  hot  diseases,  with  good  success. 

ISIuch  dependence  used  to  be  placed,  as  I  have 
already  said,  on  the  use  of  roots  and  herbs  ;  and 
the  various  kinds  thought  to  possess  healing  prop- 


24 


CENTENNIAL  ADDRESS. 


erties  were  carefully  gathered  diirin<jf  their  season 
and  preserved  for  future  use.  Many  herbs,  orig- 
inally brought  from  England  for  their  medical 
virtues,  have  since  become  naturalized,  and  are 
now  good  American  plants.  Some  have  multi- 
plied so  rapidly  and  grown  so  plentifully  in  the 
fields  and  by  the  roadside,  that  they  are  consider- 
ed common  weeds.  Wormwood,  tansy,  chamo- 
mile, yarrow,  Jundelion,  burdock,  plantain,  catnip, 
and  mint,  all  \e  plants  that  came  here  by  impor- 
tation. Of  course  there  were  indigenous  ones 
which  the  natives  used  medicinally;  and  a  know- 
ledge of  these  they  im])arted  to  the  whites.  The 
foreign  plants  made  their  way  into  the  interior,  as 
fast  as  civilization  extended  in  that  direction.  Dr. 
Douglass,  in  "  A  Summary,  historical  and  politi- 
cal, of  the  First  Planting,  Progressive  Im])i'ove- 
nients  and  Present  State  of  the  British  Settle- 
ments in  I^orth- America,"  first  ])ublished  at  Bos- 
ton,— Volume  I.  in  the  year  1749,  and  Volume  II. 
in  1751, — says: — 

"  Near  Boston  and  other  great  Towns  sonic  Field  Plants  which 
accidentally  have  been  imi)()rtcd  from  Europe,  spread  nineh,  and 
are  a  great  Nusanoe  in  Pastures, ...  at  prcjsent  they  have  spread 
Inland  from  Boston,  about  30  Miles." — (ii.  207.) 

Such  was  the  ])opular  faith  in  botanical  treat- 
ment that  a  family  was  considered  improvidenl, 
which  did  not  have  on  hand  a  goodly  stock  of  dried 
specimens  of  materia  medlca.  When  sickness 
invaded  the  household,  the  pages  of  the  receipt- 
book — a  sort  of  family  physician — were  carefully 
scanned  in  order  to  find  some  balm  to  relieve  the 
unlucky  sufferer;  and  when  something  was  found 


Ih: 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


25 


to  meet  the  case,  it  was  given  Avilliont  rhyme  or 
reason,  to  the  weal  or  woe  of  the  patient!  Most 
of  these  so-ealled  remedial  aj^ents  were  innoeent 
of  positive  good  or  evil,  and  at  the  Avorst  eould 
only  pnt  oft"  for  a  short  time  the  period  of  recovery. 
But  in  some  eases  the  wonder  is  that  the  ])0()r  pa- 
tient got  well  at  all  after  the  polyphai'mic-al  treat- 
ment. If  he  was  strong  enough  to  withstand  the 
efteet  of  the  dose,  he  lived  to  hless  the  remedy,  in 
the  firm  helief  that  his  restoration  Avas  due  to 
the  medieine. 

John  AVinthrop,  the  founder  of  Boston  and 
Governor  of  Massachusetts,  was  well  versed  in 
medicine,  hut  his  puhlic  services  to  the  colony 
were  so  marked  that  his  minor  ministrations 
among  friends  and  neighhors  are  thrown  into  the 
l)ackgronnd.  The  venerable  Cotton  says  of  him 
just  before  his  death,  that  he  had  been  a  "  IL^'n 
for  our  Bodies  by  Plujsick,,  for  our  J'Jstates  by 
Law:'' 

His  son,  John  Winthrop,  Jr.,  for  some  years  an 
inhabitant  of  Massachusetts  and  afterward  Ciov- 
ernor  of  Connecticut,  was  a  noted  physician.  He 
was  one  of  the  earliest  members  of  the  lloyal 
Society  of  London  and  an  accomplished  scholar. 
He  had  a  laig'e  corresjiondcnce  with  sclent ilic  uwu, 
from  which  many  interesting  facts  are  gathered 
about  medieine  in  the  early  history  of  the  colony. 
A  third  generation  of  the  family  represented  in 
the  person  of  Wait  AVinlhroi),  a  son  of  John,  Jr., 


'  Magualiu,  Book  ii.,  Clmp.  iv.  1<3. 


*rT 


itaS 


MS: 


i     I 


I     : 

1             1 

■       j       I'l 

i  I 


2(3 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


was  also  i)i'()nc*K'nt  In  tlie  profession.  In  Cotton 
Mather's  sermon,  preached  at  liis  liineral,  Novem- 
ber 7,  1717,  thei'c  is  an  "Epitaphium,"  from  which 
the  followin<^'  is  an  extract: — 

IMHDICIN.E  Peritus  ; 

(^iii  Arcaiiis  vcrc^  Aiirt-is.  ct  Ann)  prcciosioriljiis  potiias; 
(^iiiv.(|ii(^  ct  llippocrolem  ct  Hehnualiam  hitiu'.niiit, 
l\(iiiit'(li;i  iiaiiacti.'as(|ii(!  A(l('.|>tiis ; 

Iiivalidos  oiuiics  iiliii'mi(|iic  sine  prcstio  sanitati  restitiiit; 
Et  pcue  oninuni  Natiiram  t'ccit  Mt'dioam. 

In  his  "History  of  N^ew  England"  (II.  315,  .310), 
Governor  AVintlirop  nv  ntions  the  first  a])pearancc 
ill  lioston  of  a  partici  lar  nialadv  of  a  constitntional 
character,  which  is  coeval  with  the  history  of  man- 
kind. It  was  hri.iight  from  Spain  l)y  a  sailor  dur- 
ing* the  spring  of  I'JiG,  and  is  called  in  Winthrop's 
acconnt  by  the  name  of  lues  venerea.  It  was  some 
time  before  its  i-eal  nature  was  '^  discovered  })y 
such  in  the  town  as  had  skill  in  physic  and  sur- 
gery, but  there  Avas  not  any  in  the  country  who 
had  been  practised  in  that  cure;"  and  during  the 
interval  sixteen  persons  became  affected.  Fortu- 
nately at  this  period  a  young  surgeon  ha])i)ened 
to  arrive,  '''■  who  had  had  experience  of  the  right 
way  of  the  cui-e  of  that  disease,"  and,  as  the  record 
goes,  "  He  took  them  in  hand,  and  through  the 
Lord's  blessing  recovered  them  all  \bkmk\  in  a 
short  time."  For  the  reputation  of  the  sailor's 
wife  w  ho  had  just  been  delivered  of  a  child,  I  will 
add  that  the  disease  is  su[)i)osed  to  have  Ijcen 
si)read  by  the  neig-hbors  who  drew  her  breasts  as 
well  as  suckled  her  baby.     The  magistrates  took 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


27 


tlic  case  iiiulcr  eonsidoratioii,  Init  came  to  no  sat- 
islac'toiy  eonelusioii  in  ivi>ar(l  to  it.  It  was 
thought  by  some  "that  tlie  \,'onian  was  infeeted 
by  the  mixture  of  so  many  spirits  of  men  and 
women  as  drew  her  breast."  This  is  the  earhest 
reeoi'ded  instance  in  t^e  colony  of  a  form  of  dis- 
ease Avhicli  is  familiar  to  j)iiysicians  and  common 
in  all  seaport  towns. 

Winthrop,  in  his  History  (I.  lU'J-.'JlG),  gives 
also  another  occiu'rence  of  medical  interest.  It 
is  an  account  of  a  monsti'ous  birth,  which  created 
nuich  excitement  Avhen  it  became  publicly  known. 
It  seems  that  one  Mary  Dyer,  the  wife  of  William 
Dyer,  of  Boston,  was  delivered  of  a  monstrosity, 
October  17,  1(3)J7,  and  its  birth  concealed  Ijy  Good- 
wife  Hawkins,  who  ofliciated  on  the  occasion. 
The  mother  Avas  a  milliner,  and  had  always  borne 
a  good  re})utation.  The  child  was  still-born,  and 
had  becu  viewed  by  no  other  person  than  the  mid- 
wife and  Anne  Hutchinson,  the  enthusiast.  Ano- 
ther Avoman  had  had  a  glimi)se  of  the  tei-ati- 
cal  object,  but  Avas  unable  to  keej)  the  secret,  as 
the  other  tAVo  had  done.  In  this  A^ay  the  matter 
leaked  out.  When  Mrs.  Hutchinson  Avas  about 
to  leave  the  colony  some  time  afterward,  she  Avas 
questioned  in  regard  to  the  allair,  and  then  told 
ev(!rything.  She  said  by  way  of  excuse  that  she 
had  been  advised  by  Mr.  Cotton,  the  minister,  to 
take  this  course  ;  and  subsequently  Mr.  Cotton 
himself  justified  it  to  the  GoA^ernor,  ])artly  on  the 
ground  that  it  Avas  an  admonition  IVoni  Heaven  to 
that  particular  family,  and  the  Avorld  at  large  Avas 


i 


I 


I!    f; 


il  ! 


I'H.i 


.    II 


I     li 


i'   i 


28 


CENTE NX r AL   ADDRESS. 


not  sii|)])()sc'(l  to  1)0  C'oncenu'd  in  the  inaltor.  The 
ini(hvilc''.s  re|)oi-t  ol"  Uie  case  to  Governor  AV'^in- 
thi'op  was  as  Ibllows:-  - 

'•  It  was  !i  wdiiiiiii  cliild.  still-lir  I'li,  about  two  moiitlis  before  the 
just  lime,  liiiviiii^  lil'e  a  ktw  lioiirs  Ix'l'ore;  it  ciime  liipliiigs  till  slic 
turned  it;  it  was  of  ordinary  Itia  less;  it  liad  a  face,  but  no  head, 
and  the  ears  stDud  npon  tlie  shoulders,  and  were  like  au  ape's;  it 
liad  no  forehead,  hut  over  the  eyes  four  horns,  ,iard  and  sharp; 
two  of  thcni  Wfr(!  al)ove  one  inch  l<)n_<^,  the  other  two  sliorlcr;  the 
eyes  standin:if  out.  and  the  mouth  also;  tlm  nos<^  hooked  U|)ward ; 
all  over  the  breast  and  ba(;k  lid!  of  sharp  pi'icks  and  scales,  like 
iithoruback;  the  navcI  and  all  the  belly,  with  tlie  distinction  of 
tlie  sex,  were  where  the  back  should  be.  and  the  back  and  hips 
before,  where  the  belly  should  have  been ;  behind,  between  the 
shoulders,  it  had  two  mouths,  and  in  eacdi  of  tiiem  a  |>iece  of  red 
flesh  stickinir  out;  it  hail  arms  and  leii's  as  other  cliildrim;  but, 
instead  of  toes,  it  had  on  each  ftjol  tliree  claws,  like  a  young 
fowl,  witli  sluirp  talons." 

The  stories  were  so  eonllieting',  and  the  excite- 
ment ran  so  high  in  the  matter,  that  the  Governor, 
with  the  advice  of  some  of  the  inagisti'tites  and 
elders  of  the  town,  ordered  tlu;  body  to  be  taken 
up,  six  months  after  its  burial,  when  "most  of 
tlu)se  things  were  to  be  seen,  as  the  horns  and 
claws,  the  scales,  etc."  It  is  also  recorded  that 
Avlu'u  the  child  "  died  in  the  mother's  body  (which 
was  al)out  two  hours  before  the  birth),  the  bed 
whei'con  the  mother  lay  did  shake."  This  furnished 
all  the  testimony  needed  at  that  time  to  show  that 
the  whole  ail'air  was  su[)eruatural. 

I*oor  Mtiry  Dyei-  was  subsequently  hanged  on 
Boston  Conmion,  »Jnne  1,  1060,  a  victim  to  the 
persecution  of  the  (Quakers. 

It  is  not  a  little  singidar  that  Mrs.  ^Iutc^"  son 
herself,  a  short  time  al'tcrward,  w;is  also  the  su  ,  '*t 
of  a  medical  and  clerictd  inquiry.    Her  theological 


;i      ! 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


29 


hiTcsy  had  taken  a  uterine  form  of  expression,  ac- 
cording to  tlie  belief  of  those  days,  tliongh  now 
it  would  be  considered  a  case  of  hydatids.  She 
was  then  living  in  Rhode  Island,  and — I  again 
quote  from  Winthrop's  History — 

'•  After  liLM*  time  v  fuIfilUHl,  that  she  expected  deliverance  of 
a  cliihl,  was  delivered  of  a  monstrous  birth,  which,  being  diverse- 
ly related  in  the  country  (and,  in  tiie  open  assembly  at  lioston, 
upon  a  lecture  day,  declared  l)y  Mr.  Cotton  to  bo  twenty-seven 
S('veral  lumps  of  man's  seed,  without  any  alteration,  or  mixture 
of  anything  from  the  woman,  and  thereupon  gathered,  that  it 
migiit  signify  her  error  in  denying  iidierent  righteousness,  but 
that  all  was  Christ  in  us,  and  nothing  of  ours  in  our  faith,  love, 
etc.)  hereupon  the  governour  wrote  to  Mr.  Clarke,  a  physician 
and  a  preacher  to  those  of  the  island,  to  know  the  certainty  there- 
of, who  returned  him  this  answer:  Mrs.  Hutchinson,  six  weeks 
before  her  delivery,  perceived  her  body  to  be  greatly  distempered, 
and  her  sjiirits  failing,  and  in  that  regard  doubtful  of  life,  she  sent 
to  me,  etc.,  and  not  long  after  (in  immoderato  iluore  uterino)  it 
was  brought  to  light,  and  I  wan  called  to  see  it,  where  I  beheld, 
first  unwashed  (and  afterwaids  in  warm  water,)  several  lumps, 
every  oni'  of  them  greatly  confused,  and  if  you  consider  each  of 
them  according  to  the  representation  of  the  whole,  they  were 
altogether  without  form."  ....  "The  fmall  globes  I  likewise 
opene<l,  and  jierceived  the  matter  of  them  (setting  aside  the  mem- 
brani!  in  which  it  was  involved,)  to  l)e  partly  wind  and  partly 
water.  Of  these  several  lumps  there  were  about  twenty-six,  ac- 
cording to  the  relation  of  those,  who  more  narrowly  searched  into 
the  number  of  them.  I  took  notice  of  six  or  seven  of  some  big- 
ness; the  rest  were  snuill;  but  all  as  I  have  declared,  except  one 
or  two,  which  ditTered  much  from  the  rest  both  in  matter  and 
form ;  and  the  whole  was  like  the  [blank]  of  the  liver,  being 
simular  and  every  where  like  itself.  Wiien  I  had  opened  it,  the 
matter  seemed  to  be  blood  congealed.  The  governour,  not  satis- 
lied  with  this  relation,  spake  after  w  itli  the  said  Mr.  Clarke,  who 
thus  cleared  all  the  doubts:  The  lumps  were  twenty-six  or  twen- 
ty-seven, distinct  and  not  j*)iued  togotiuM';  there  came  no  siicun- 
dine  after  them;  six  of  them  were  as  great  as  Ids  fist,  and  one 
as  great  as  two  lists;  the  rest  each  1' ss  than  other,  and  the  small- 
est al)out  the  bigness  of  the  top  of  his  thumb.  The  globes  were 
round  things,  included  in  the  lumps,  about  the  bigness  of  a  small 
Indian  bean,  and  like  the  pearl  in  a  man's  eye." — (i.  320-328.) 

These  extracts  will  serve  to  show  some  of  the 
6 


rr^ 


•«w«Mi"«MiMtf358SKi 


i' 


80 


CENTEXNTAL   ADDRESS. 


phases  of  popular  belief  in  regard  to  medioinc  as 
well  as  theology,  which  existed  t*Vv>  "iiuiulred  and 
fifty  years  ago.  They  help  iis  catch  the  coloring 
of  that  period;  and  no  picture  of  the  times  is  com- 
plete without  it.  It  would  be  impossible  for  us  to 
reach  the  same  conclusions,  becanse  we  reason 
from  different  premises.  There  is  a  kind  of  moral 
parallax  as  well  as  a  physical  one ;  and  we  should 
bear  in  mind  the  apparent  displacement  of  an  ob- 
ject as  seen  from  different  points  of  time  as  well 
as  of  positioii.  The  angle  of  metaphysical  vision 
to-day  subtends  a  much  larger  arc  than  it  did 
two  or  three  centuries  ago. 

Among  those  who  came  over  in  Winthrop's 
fleet  was  Kiehard  Palgrave,  a  physician,  from 
Stepney,  London.  He  settled  in  Charlestown, 
though  neither  himself  nor  his  wife  was  ever  con- 
nected Avith  the  church  in  that  town.  Their  eccle- 
siastical relations  were  always  with  Boston,  where 
those  of  their  children  who  were  born  in  this  coun- 
try were  baptized.  He  lived  about  twenty  years, 
after  coming  to  ^New  England. 

Another  passenger  in  the  same  fleet  was  AVil- 
liam  Gager,  one  of  the  deacons  of  the  Charlestown 
Church,  whom  Governor  Dudley  styles  "  a  right 
godly  man,  skilful  chyrurgeon,"  l)ut  who  unfor- 
tunately died  soon  after  his  arrival. 

Another  among  the  early  settlers  of  Massachu- 
setts who  practised  medicine,  was  Giles  Firmin, 
Jr.,  who  came  to  this  country  in  the  year  1632. 
His  father — "  a  godly  man,  an  ai)othecary  of  Sud- 
bury in  England,"  according  to  Winthrop — arrived 


CENTENNIAL   ADDUKSS. 


31 


here  about  the  saiiH'  tiino;  and  in  some  accounts 
the  two  have  l)een  conlbundcd  from  the  similarity 
of  their  names.  It  is  very  likely  that  Giles,  senior, 
was  a  medical  practitioner.  The  son  did  not  long 
remain  in  Boston,  but  soon  returned  to  England; 


coming 


agani, 


however,   to  these   shores   a  few 


years  sul)sequontly.  He  had  l)een  educated  at  the 
University  of  Cambridge,  and  was  learned  in 
medicine.  He  is  the  first  man  known  to  have 
taught  in  New  England  this  l)ranch  of  science, 
and  he  seems  to  have  left  a  professional  imprint 
on  the  minds  of  his  students.  He  soon  remov- 
ed to  Ipswich,  where  he  was  widely  known  as  a 
successful  physician.  His  practice  does  not  appear 
to  have  been  a  lucrative  one,  for  he  writes  to 
Winthroj,  some  years  afterward, — "  I  am  strongly 
sett  upon  vo  studye  divinitie,  my  studies  else  must 
be  lost:  for  physick  is  but  a  meene  helpe.'"  Sub- 
se([uently  he  carried  this  plan  into  execution,  and 
studied  theology,  after  which  he  returned  to  Eng- 
land, where  he  was  ordained  and  settled  as  a  rec- 
tor Nevertheless,  he  continued  to  practise  his 
early  profession. 

The  apostle  Eliot,  vgB*w  under  date  of  Septem- 
ber 24,  1()4:7,  writes  to  Mr.  Shepard,  the  minister 
of  Cambridge,  and  expresses  the  desire  that — 

"  Our  joimg  Students  in  I'hysick  may  be  trained  up  better 
than  yet  they  bee,  who  have  ouely  theoreticall  knowledge,  and 
are  forced  to  fall  to  i)racti.se  before  ever  tliey  saw  an  Anatomy 
made,  or  uuely  trained  up  in  making  experiments,  for  we  never 
had  but  one  Anatomy  in  tlie  Countrey,  wliich  J\Ir.  Giles  Firman 
(now  in  England)  (bd  make  and  read  upon  very  well,  but  no 
more  of  that  now."  ^ 


'   Hutchinson's  Collection  of  Orif^iual  Papers,  &c.,  page  109, 
2  Massuchusetts  Historical  Collections,  third  series,  iv.  57. 


immm 


F 


82 


CENTENNIAL   ADDllESS. 


r* 


All  anatomy  is  the  old  iiamo  for  a  skeleton,  and 
Mr.  Firmin  may  be  considered,  in  point  of  time, 
the  iirst  medical  lecturer  in  the  country.  His  in- 
struction must  have  been  crude,  and  conii)rised 
little  more  than  informal  talks  about  the  drv  bones 
before  him;  but  even  this  might  be  a  great  help  to 
the  learners.  At  any  rate  it  seems  to  have  excit- 
ed an  interest  in  the  subject,  for  the  recommenda- 
tion is  made,  at  the  session  of  the  General  Court 
beginning  October  27,  1G47, — a  few  weeks  later 
than  the  date  of  Eliot's  letter, — that  "  we  conceive 
it  very  necessary  y'  such  as  studies  phisick,  or  ehi- 
rurgery  may  have  liberty  to  reade  anotomy  &  to 
anotomize  once  in  foure  yeares  some  malefacto""  in 
case  there  be  such  as  the  Courte  shall  alow  of." ' 

The  ape  tie  Eliot  himself  was  skilled  in  medi- 
cine, and  he  tried  to  teach  the  Indians  some  gene- 
ral principles  of  the  study  as  well  as  a  knowledge 
of  the  human  body.  He  was  desii'ous  that  they 
should  be  instructed  in  the  ruies  and  precepts  of 
the  art,  so  that  they  might  give  up  their  "  i)ow- 
wows  "  and  rely  on  prayer  m  the  treatment  of  the 
sick. 

Charles  Chauncy,  that  stern  puritan,  President 
of  Harvard  College,  and  also  Leonard  Hoar,  who 
succeeded  him  in  the  presidency,  were  regular 
graduates  of  medicine  at  Cambridge  in  England. 
Chauncy  left  six  sons,  all  of  whom  were  educated 
at  Harvard  College  and  became  preachers.  They 
had,  says  Cotton  Mather,  "  an  eminent  Skill  in 
Physich  added  unto  their  other  Accomplishments ; 

'  General  Court  Records,  ii.  175. 


CENTENN I A  L   AD  I  >I{  KSS. 


',y.\ 


which  like  hhn  [their  fathoi*],  tluy  used  for  the 
Good  of  iiiiuiy;  as,  iiuU'od,  it  is  well  known,  that 
until   Two  llunih'od  Years  a<j;(),    I'/tt/sick  in  J'Jih/- 


?M 


/r/y/f/,  was  no  Profession  distinct  JVoni  Divinity 
ffohn  Holers,  the  lil'th  j)resid('nt  of  the  ( 'olleg«', 
Avas  also  a  practitioner  of  medicine.  Hoar  was 
the  first  ])resi(U'nt  who  was  a  gradnate  of  the  in- 
stitution, ])ut  iio^crs  was  the  earliest  j;raduate 
Avho  became  its  jjresident. 

Michael  AVigglesworth  was  an  early  minister 
and  i)hysiciau  of  ccjusiderable  note  in  the  colony. 
A  uative  of  England,  he  gradnated  at  Harvard 
College,  ill  the  class  of  1051.  For  a  short  time  he 
was  a  tutor  and  pi'ofessor  in  the  college;  though 
subse([uently  he  was  ordained  over  the  church  at 
Maiden,  where  he  remained  until  his  death,  which 
occurred  June  10,  1705.  He  was  the  author  of 
"  The  Day  of  Doom,"  a  poem  Avhich  ])assed 
through  nine  editions  in  this  countiy,  and  two  in 
England.  lie  had  a  large  medical  practice,  and 
was  accounted  a  skilful  })hys;cian. 

Elisha  Co(dve  Avas  a  piromineut  phyticiau  as 
well  as  a  i)oliticiaii  of  this  pei'iod.  He  was  born 
in  T5oston,  Septembei-  JG,  1(537,  and  graduated  at 
Harvard  College  in  the  class  of  1057,  being  one 
of  the  first  natives  of  the  town  that  studied  medi- 
cine. AV^hile  esteemed  as  a  physician,  his  reputa- 
tion is  based  more  on  his  labors  '  connection  with 
the  body  politic  than  the  body  i  ysical.  He  died 
October  -31,  1715,  having  filled  many  public  posi- 
tions of  trust  and  honor. 


'  Magnalin,  Book  iii.,  Chap,  xxiii.,  140. 


^ 


31 


CENTENNIAL   ADDUKSS. 


v\ 


I!       ! 


i     1 

n 


fhAm  Dimlnn,  avIio  ctniu'  (o  New  lOn^laiKl  in 
llic  spiiii;^-  ol'  KiSO,  wruti'  lioinc  soiiu'  interest ln«^ 
letters  whieli  W(  iv  j)ul)lislK'<l.  They  contain  eon- 
Hi(leral)l('  "gossip  abont  men  and  tilings  in  tiie  colo- 
ny at  that  lime,  and  rerer  in  j)arti(Mdar  to  two 
Boston  physicians.  Dr.  ^Diomas  Oakes — a  hrotlier 
of  President  Oakes,  and  a  <^radnate  of  Hai'vard 
Colle<»-e — Dnnton  calls  "the  jj^ivatest  ^Kscnlapins 
ol  the  Conntrey,"  and  says  that — 

"  Ills  wiso  mid  siil'o  I'rcscriiitioiis  liavi;  oxpcird  more  Disoii.nos 
and  rescu'd  Laiijjjui^lunjLj  Patients  from  tlie  .laws  of  Di-atli.  than 
Muiiiitcliaiiks    and    (.)iia('k-Sal\ crs  liavc    sent   to  tliosi*  daik    IJc- 


itions:   And  on  tliat. 


Dcalli   lias 


J- 


ncmy 


\\ 


icrt'as 


Dcatl 


a 
1  (ilanns 


s  (icclar  u  n 


iins<'lf  liis  .Mortal 


a  [{elation    to  those   Pretenders 


to  I'hysick,  as  hiMnif  iioili  of  one  ()eeii|iatiiin,  vi/. :   that  of    Kill- 
ing Men." — ("'rhel'niilieations  of  the  I'lmee,  Society,"  iv.  il.'i.) 

In  speakinj;-  of  Di-.  Benjamin  Hnllivant,  at'ter- 
Avard  (iovcrnor  Andros's  Attoniey-General,  he 
writes  that — 

"  His  Skill  in  Pharmacy  was  such,  as  rendered   him  the  most 
eompleat  Pharmaeopean,  not  oidy  in  all  Poston,  hut  1 
jMijiland;  and  is  heside.    as  much  a  (icnthsman 


n  all  i>ew» 


iNt 


IS  anv  one  in  a 


li 


the  C 


onntrcv. 


lie  is  as  intimate  with  (Jailen  and  llyi 


(OC- 


rates  (at  least  ways  with  their  works.)  as  ever   I   have  heen  with 
you,  Even  in  our  most  Familiar  C'onverse.     And  is  so  conversant 


with  the  great  variety  of  Nature,  that  not  a  Drug  or  Simple  i-an 
Kscajtehim;  whose  Power  and  A'ertues  are  known  so  well  to 
him,  he  needs  not  Practise  new  Ivvperimeiits  upon  his  Patients, 
except  it  he  in  desperate  Cases,  when   Death  must  be 


expel!  (I  by 
Death.     'I'his  also  is  Praise-worthv   in  him.  That  to  the  Poor  he 


always    prescribes  ciieap 


but 


wliolcsome 


.Med 


icmes,   not   curniir 


them  of  a  Consumption  in  their  Podics,  and  sending  it  into  their 
Purses;  nor  yet  directing  them  to  the  East-Indies  to  look  for 
Drugs,  when  they  may  have  far  better  out  of  their  (hardens." — 
(•'  The  Publications  of  the  Prince  Society,"  iv.  'J1-!)G.) 

Harvard  Colle<^e  was  founded  in  the  year  1638; 
and  during  the  period  from  this  time  till  IToO, 
there  had  been  but  ni.iie  of  its  graduates  who  had 


CENTKXNIAL   ADDUESS. 


:w 


ever  received  a  medical  depfrce.  Of  tliis  mimbcr, 
two  liad  taken  it  at  J*adua,  in  Italy;  one  cacii  at 
('anil)i'i(l<4C',  Oxford,  Aberdeen,  and  JiCydeii;  and 
three  others  iiad  received  it  |>rohal>ly  in  Kn^land, 
though  tlu'  phice  is  not  nuntioni'd.  'I'hc  decree 
j;iven  at  (Jxl'ord  was  u  liaccahinreate  ol'^Iedicine. 
lietwei'n  tlie  classes  (d'  I7JJ7  and  17.">()  tlu're  were 
five  *>Ta(lnates  who  many  years  aftei'ward  received 
from  the  Collegi'  the  dej>ree  oi"  ^I.D.,  pro  honoris 
causa.  They  were  Dr.  lOdward  Angustns  llol- 
yoke  and  J)r.  Cotton  Tufts,  both  former  presidi-nts 
of  this  Society;  Dr.  John  Si)ra<^ue,  of  Dedham; 
Dr.  Thomas  liullinch,  of  Boston,  and  Dr.  Oliver 
Prescott,  of  Groton. 

The  opj)ortunities  for  successful  imposition  in 
the  treatment  of  disease  were  unusuallv  favorable 
in  the  early  days  of  the  colony;  and  the  ([uacks 
were  not  slow  U>  avail  themselves  of  the  chances. 
During  the  first  winter  at  Boston,  the  Court  of 
Assistants  fined  Nicholas  Knopp  Wvq  pounds — 

"  for  t:ikoiii,<;  vpoii  liim  to  cure  tlic  scurvcy  l)y  a  wutcr  of  iioe 
worth  nor  valiit',  wliidi  lit^  solde  att  a  very  duarc  rutu,  to  lioi;  iin- 
prisoiH'il  till  \w,i'  pay  liis  iliiie  or  uiuo  .securytic  for  it,  or  els  to  ho 
wliil)|i('(l  iV;  sliali)i!  lyaliln  to  any  mans  ai'cun  of  wiionic  lit;  iia'  ■ 
reccaiied  money  fur  the  s''  water." — (Cieueral  Court  liee(jnls, 
i.  07.) 

The  recor(j,  however,  does  not  sttite  which  dose 
he  took  in  the  way  of  punishment,  hut  as  three 
pounds  of  the  fine  ^v•ere  subsecpiently  remitted,  it 
is  fair  to  infer  that  he  was  not  whii)[)ed.  If  we 
now  had  as  wise  legislation  in  regard  to  medicine, 
there  w(mld  be  less  quackery  in  the  connnunity. 
13y  a  law  passed  a  fev/  years  later,  regulating  the 


^^••■1 


36 


CENTENXIAL   ADDRESS. 


H    I  !! 


H 


'! 


i   1 


proccdciico  of  passengers  in  feny-boats,  pivfer- 
enco  was  given  to  public  i)ersonagcs,  and  to  "  Phy- 
Hitians,  Chirurgeons,  and  Midwives." 

The  colonial  authorities  appear  to  have  taken 
6tei)s,  at  an  early  day,  to  guard  against  the  intro- 
duction of  infectious  and  contagious  diseases  from 
foreign  ports.  An  order  was  passed  l)y  the  Gen- 
^'ral  Court,  at  the  session  beginning  in  March, 
lo-x7-48,  which  established  a  strict  quai-antine 
over  all  vessels  coming  from  the  AVest  India  Isl- 
ands. It  prohibited  the  landing  of  persons  or 
goods  from  such  vessels,  until  the  Council  saw  fit 
to  decree  otherwise.  At  that  time  "  y"  plague  or 
like  in[fectious]  disease," — i)erhaps  yellow  fever, — 
was  raging  in  some  of  these  islands,  and  this  fact 
was  the  cause  of  the  order.  Dui'ing  the  session 
beginning  May,  1649, — one  yet;"  afterward, — it  is 
recorded  that — 

"The  Conrtc  doth  tliiiiko  moeto.  thnt  tlio  order,  conocrnincf the 
sloping  ot  West  liidiii  slii[).s  tit  the  Castle  slioiild  horehy  ha  ro- 
pi!iil('(l  s(!cniig  it  hiitii  plciisod  God  to  stay  tlie  sicklies  there." — 
(Geueriil  Court  Records,  ii.  '2'AH.) 

'No  further  sanitary  regulations  are  recoi'ded  until 
October  11,  li)()5,  when  a  warrant  was  issued  by 
the  General  Court,  ordering  all  vessels  coming 
from  England  to  be  placed  in  quarantine.  This 
order  was  due  to  the  prevalence  of  the  ^'plague" 
in  London  at  that  time;  but  it  was  i-epealed  just 
two  years  afterward,  owing  to  the  disappearance 
of  the  disease.  The  quarantine  grounds  then 
were  near  the  Castle,  aftei'ward  called  Castle 
AVilliam,  but  now  known  as  Fort  Independence. 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


37 


These  two  orders  appear  to  have  been  made  to 
meet  sj)ccial  emergencies;  but  they  comprise  ihe 
whole  legislation  of  the  seventeenth  century,  so 
far  as  it  relates  to  quarantine  in  Massachusetts. 

It  is  said  that  the  first  appearance  of  yellow 
fever,  in  what  is  now  the  United  States,  occurred 
during  the  summer  of  169.3,  in  Boston,  where  it 
had  been  bi'ought  from  Barbadoes.  A  fleet,  under 
the  command  of  Sir  Francis  Wheeler,  arrived  in 
the  early  summer  of  that  year,  after  an  unsuccessful 
attempt  on  the  island  of  Martinico.  Chief  Justice 
Sewall  alludes  to  this  fleet  in  his  Diary  (Massa- 
chusetts Historical  Collections,  fifth  series,  V.  379, 
380),  under  date  of  June  13,  when  he  says  that 
"  severall  of  the  Frigotts  come  up  above  Long 
Island;  "  though  he  does  not  mention  whence  they 
came.  It  is  probable  that  they  had  arrived  within  a 
few  days.    A  short  time  afterward  he  records  that — 

"  Last  niglit  Tim?  Wadsworth's  man  dies  of  the  Fever  of  tiie 
Fleet,  as  is  sup[)oso<l,  he  having  been  on  board  and  in  the  Hold  of 
some  ship.     Town  is  much  startled  at  it." 

Still  later,  under  date  of  July  21,  he  writes: — 

"  C'apt.  Turell    is   buried.      Mr.   Joseph    Dassett    was    buried 

Saxton 


yesterday,  being  nnich  lamented.     Jn°  8hove  and 

died  before,  all  of  the  Fleet-Fever,  as  is  suposed;  besides  others. 

The  Town  is  much  startled.     Capt.  Byfield  speaks  of  removing 

his  wife  and  daughters  to  liristow.    One  of  the  Fleet- Women  dies 

this  day,  July  24,  lGi)3,  at  David  Johnson's,  over  against  the 

Town-house. 

"July  2;).  Three  Carpenters  die. 

''July  2(').  Dr.  Pembertun  dies.  Persons  are  generally  under 
much  consternation,  which  Mr.  Willard  takes  notice  of  in  his 
Prayer." 

At  irregular  intervals  after  this  time,  quarantine 
laws  were  passed  or  modified  to  meet  the  needs  ol 
6 


■KM 


I   Jill 


'  i1 


! 

S[ 

1 

r,i  \ 

1 

h' 

' 

;4 

III 

ll'! 

i 

i'i' 

i 

hi 

f  l^il 


38 


CENTEXXIAL   ADDRESS. 


the  public.  A  necessary  adjunct  to  sncli  Icpfislation 
was  a  hosj)ital;  and  as  early  as  the  sunnner  of 
1710,  a  committee  of  the  General  Court  was 
ai)pointed  to  select  a  location  for  such  a  building. 
In  due  time  they  reported  on  two  sites,  S])ectacle 
Island  and  Squantum  ZSTeclv;  but  as  the  owner  of 
the  Island  would  not  sell  it  at  a  fair  price,  they 
recommended  Squantum  as  the  proper  place.  A 
strong  protest  to  this  ])roposition,  however,  came 
from  the  towns  of  Dorchester,  Braintree,  and 
Milton,  and  that  project  was  abandoned.  But 
during  the  next  year  a  quarantine  hospital  was 
built  on  Spectacle  Island,  which  Avas  used  for 
infectious  diseases  until  the  year  1737,  Avhen  the 
establishment  was  transferred  tollainsford  Island, 
where  it  remained  until  the  year  181:9.  It  was 
then  established  on  Deer  Island,  where  it  was  kept 
until  April,  1807,  when  it  was  removed  to  Gallo})''s 
Island,  at  which  place  the  quarantine  buildings 
for  the  port  of  Boston  are  now  situated. 

In  the  year  1019,  a  law  was  passed  which  is 
commendatory  to  the  wisdom  of  that  time.  It 
regulated,  within  certain  limits,  the  practice  of 
medicine  and  surgery,  and  retpiired  the  practitioner 
to  act  according  to  the  most  ai)proved  pi'ecepts  of 
the  art  in  each  domain.  It  was  a  salutary  enact- 
ment, as  iar  as  it  went,  but  it  afforded  only  a  slight 
protection  against  the  deficiencies  of  the  ])rofessiou. 
It  was  like  leaning  ou  a  broken  reed,  however, 
since  it  made  no  ])rovision  for  educating  medical 
men  and  estaljlished  no  test  of  their  qualilications. 
The  attempt,  however,  is  worth}^  of  notice  as  being 


(• 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


39 


tlic  first  one,  on  the  j^avt  of  the  colonial  authorities, 
to  restrain  the  quackery  of  the  clay.  The  tendency 
of  the  law  was  to  confine  the  profession  to  skilled 
pei\sons;  and  it  must  he  granted  that  the  whole 
medical  legislation  of  that  period  was  in  the  inter- 
est of  sound  learning,  as  understood  at  the  time. 
The  present  generation  will  do  well  if,  tried  by  the 
standard  two  centuries  hence,  they  display  as  much 
common  sense  in  such  matters  as  was  shown  by 
the  founders  of  the  colony. 
The  law  is  as  follows: — 


i  M 


Ghirurrjeons,  Midwives,  Physiiians. 

Fo)-a.-tmHch  as  the  Law  of  God  allowes  no  man  to  impaire  the 
Life,  or  Liinb.-i  of  any  Person,  but  in  a  judicial  way; 

It  is  tliertfore  r)r(l('r('(l.  That  no  person  or  persons  wliatsoever, 
iinployed  at  any  time  abont  the  bodycs  of  men,  women,  or 
oliihh'en.  for  pre>ervation  of  life  or  health ;  as  Chirnrgions,  Mid- 
wives.  I'iiy-itians  or  others.  ])resnme  to  exercise,  or  put  fortli  any 
aet  contrary  to  the  iinown  ap[iro\ed  Kiiles  of  Art,  in  each  Mystery 
and  occupation,  nor  exercise  any  force,  vioh?nce  or  cruelty  upon, 
or  toward>  the  Imdy  of  any,  whether  youiiij  or  old.  (no  not  in  the 
most  dillicnlt  and  dcsjicrate  eases)  without  the  advice  and  consent; 
of  such  as  are  skillfull  in  ilie  same  Art,  (if  such  may  be  had)  or 
at  least  of  some  of  the  wisest  and  jrravest  then  present,  and  con- 
sent of  the  patient  or  patients  if  they  i)e  menlis  conipotCfS,  much 
less  contrary  to  .«uch  advice  and  consent;  npon  siicii  scnere  punish- 
ment as  the  natur<;  of  the  fact  may  deserve.  whii;h  Law  neverthe- 
less, is  not  intended  to  discourajfc  any  from  ail  lawfull  tise  of  their 
skill,  iiut  rather  to  incouiai^e  and  direct  them  in  tiie  riyht  use 
thereof,  and  inhii>it  and  re.^treine  tiie  presuini)tuons  arro^•aney  of 
such  as  through  pre>idence  of  their  own  skill,  or  any  other  sinister 
respects,  dare  iiuldiy  attempt  to  exercisi;  any  violence  uiion  or 
towards  the  liodyes  of  young  or  old.  one  or  other,  to  the  ])rt;iiidic(i 
or  hazard  of  the  life  or  limlie  ol'  man.  woman  or  child. — ("The 
(ieiieral  Laws  ami  Lilterties  of  the  .ALi-^.^acliuseUs  Colony,"  Cam- 
britlge,  1072.  page  "Js.) 

The  i'ollowing  petition  in  maiuiscript  is  found, 
without  signature  or  date,  among  the  Ma'^sachu- 


Ltt*" 


g5it<:'SSg''"'5il8Cy3l'  BWWji'yil 


40 


CENTENNIAL   ADDEESS. 


iii 


!         I 


1 


setts  Archives  at  the  State  House  (IX.  21).  In 
the  arrangement  of  the  papers  it  has  been  assigned 
to  the  year  1G53,  and  it  belongs  doul)tless  to  that 
period.  It  probably  had  some  connection  with  the 
discussion  growing  out  of  the  condition  of  affairs 
which  culminated  in  the  law  just  mentioned: — 

To  the  Honor^^  Court. 

Wheras  there  be  many  Chirurgions  tliat  came  over  in  the 
Ships  into  thiw  Hay,  &  liere  practise  both  Physick  &  Chinirgery 
to  the  liazarding  of  tlie  lives  &  liinbes  of  some,  &  the  detriment 
of  many,  being  vnskilfull:  in  those  Arts.  ^lay  it  please  tiiis  Hon- 
oured Court  to  take  it  into  Consideration  wliether  such  ought  not 
to  be  restrained,  &  that  first  they  may  be  exercised  by  the  skilfull 
&  authorised  Phisitians  «&  Chirurgions  in  this  towne,  &  then  being 
found  skilfull,  &  approved  by  them  may  by  some  JMagistrates  be 
licensed  to  practise  the  time  they  are  resident  here,  but  if  any  one 
hall  presume  on  shore  to  practise  w"'out  liberty  granted,  that  some 
fine  may  be  imposed  vpon  him  for  every  such  default  according  to 
you'  discretion. 

With  a  low  standard  of  professional  education 
even  among  the  physicians,  it  was  not  to  be 
expected  that  there  would  be  much  general  intel- 
ligence on  medical  matters  in  the  community  at 
large.  A  stream  never  rises  higher  than  its 
source.  The  ignorant  are  provei-bially  credulous 
and  easily  deceived.  The  following  extract  Avill 
show  the  strain  to  which  weak  credulity  may  be 
put.  It  is  taken  from  "  The  Boston  Weekly 
News-Letter,"  January  14,  1717,  which  was  the 
first  newspaper,  and  at  that  time  the  only  one, 
l)ublished  on  this  continent.  Perhaps  some  cynic 
in  this  audience  may  say  that  for  pure  and  unadul- 
terated abstu'dity  it  can  be  capped  by  almost  any 
quack  advertising  sheet  at  the  present  time,  and  I 
am  not  ready  to  dispute  it. 


CENTENISIAL   ADDEESS. 


41 


BoMoT),  On  the  Lords  day  ISroriiiiij.f  tlio  sixfli  Currant,  a 
striini;(i  tiling  iVll  ont  licrci.  One  Tlionias  Sniitli  a  Sawvfr  alxnit 
four  JMontli  ago,  lionglit  a  Lusty  Tall  new  negro,  fit  for  hiss  Employ, 
who  after  e()ni|)lain'<l  of  sonietiiing  witliin  him  that  made  a  Noise 
Clii]),  Chip,  C'liij);  his  Masttir  sent  lor  a  Doctoi'.  one  Sebastian 
Henry  Swetzer  a  (Jernian.  who  told  himheliad  AVoims,  where\ipon 
he  gave  him  some  Physiek  on  Wednesday:  from  Tliursday  till  the 
Lords  Day  he  gave  him  some  Powders,  whieh  on  the  Lords  Day 
liad  that  effect  as  to  cause  him  to  vomit  up  a  long  Worm,  that 
measur'd  a  hundred  and  twenty  eight  Koot.  whieh  tlie  negro  took 
to  he  his  Guts;  it  was  almost  as  big  as  ones  little  Finger,  its  Head 
was  liki!  a  Snakes,  and  would  receiv  a  ^lans  little  Kinger  into  its 
Mouth,  it  was  of  a  whitish  Colour  ail  full  of  .loynts,  its  tail  was 
long  and  hard,  and  with  a  Mierosc(}pe  it  seem'd  to  l)e  hairy ;  the 
Negro  before  voiding  the  Worm  had  an  extraordinary  Stomach. 

Dui'ing  the  early  days  of  the  Colony  sometimes 
the  booksellers  and  printers  kept  a  small  assort- 
ment of  poi)iilar  I'emedies  for  common  aihnents,  as 
well  as  of  medienl  books.  In  an  advertisement  on 
the  last  leaf  of  "The  Moukxeus  CORDIAL 
A(/ainst  Excesdve  80KR0W,  "  a  dnodeeimo 
volume  "  Yery  Suitable  to  be  given  at  Funerals,'' 
written  by  "  h>aiiiud  Wlllard,  Teacher  of  a 
Church  in  BOSTOX,"  and  published  in  the  year 
1G9J,  it  is  announced  that — 

That  Excellent  ^/i/w/o/e  against  all  Clripings  called  ^r/ua  a>j/i 
torminalix,  which  if  taken  it  not  only  cures  the  (Iripings  of  (iuts, 
iV:  Wind  ('liolick.  hut  [)rev(niteth  that  wot'ul  Disienipt'r  the  />/•*/ 
Jh'Uii  Ach.  Sold  l}y  Benjamin  Harris.  Price  os.  the  Half 
Pint  JJottle. 


Harris  was  one  of  the  printers  of  the  little  book; 
and  he  advertises  in  the  same  page  *"  An  Ingenious 
Piece  which  turns  Georijt  KcUh  inside  outwards," 
by  Cotton  Mather.  The  price  of  it,  in  boards,  was 
one  shilling, — the  cost  of  about  two  ounces  of  the 
medicine.  ,  At  the  sale  of  a  part  of  the  Brinley 


i 

;|| 

1 

' 

1 

il 

i 

■ 

42 


centp:nxial  address. 


ijtl 


I  ill 


I 


lil)rary  in  Xow  York,  two  years  aj];'o,  a  C'opy  of 
tlic  siunv  work,  luulcr  the  titk'  of  "  Littk'  Flocks 
Giiardeel  a^i'iiinst  Grievous  Wolves,"  I'etehed 
twenty-ei<^ht  dollars. 

The  ])iiblishei-  of  ''The  Boston  Evening  Post," 
in  liis  issue  of  March  21,  ITIJT,  advertises  "The 
Pool"  Man's  Family-Book,  Oi',  A  new  Editi(ni 
of  Calpepers  London  Dispensatory  "  as  a  work 
"Yery  Useful  foi'  Families,  especially  in  the 
Country,  where  learned  and  skilful  Physicians  are 
not  very  easily  met  with."  The  merits  of  the 
edition  are  given  Avith  some  prominence.  The 
book  purports  to  contain: — 

1.  Three  hundred  nseful  Addifionf^. 

2.  All  Ike  Nuten  thai  loere  in  the  Marcjenl  are  hroiKjJd  into 
the  Bool-  between  Iwu  sneh  Crotche'.s  a.s  ihe.'<e  [         ]. 

3.  The  Virtues,  Qualities  and  Properties  of  ecer;/ S\iu\)\e. 
•t.      Tlie  Virtues  and  Use  of  tlie  C.'ompoiiiKls. 

5       Cautions  in  '/ivin;;  all  Mediciiws  tliaf  are  dani/emns. 

6.  All  the  Medicines  that  were  in  the  Old  Latin  Disiu-iisatory, 
and  are  left  out  in  the  New  Latin  one,  are  Printed  in  this  Ini- 
pres.^i'in  in  FjUijUsh,  witli  their  Virtues. 

7.  A  IvKV  lu  (iaicii  and  lliiipocrati.'s,  tlu:ir  Metliod  of 
Piiysiclv.  containing  Thirtij  tliree  Chapters. 

8  In  ttiis  Impression  the  Latin  niinie  of  eeerij  one  of  the 
Compounds  is  Printed,  and  in  wliat  Paije  of  tlie  new  Folio  Latin 
JJo'  f  tlu'ij  are  to  be  found. 

The  following  advei'tisfinent  is  taken  from  "The 
Xew  Enghuul  Courant,"  of  December  17,  1722. 
The  substtince  of  it  is  much  like  the  quack  notices 
of  the  ])resent  lime,  though  the  advertiser  is  moi"e 
considerate  to  the  poor  than  we  are  now  ;ipt  to 
see. 


li' 


For   lli(>   (iorxl  of  tlio    I'nlilii'ii.  a  certain   PcM'sou  li;iili  a  secret 


M 


(■(iK'inc  wliirli  cure: 


tlie   ( 


ira\il   and 


CI 


loliclv   unnic( 


Hatch 


aiK 


Dry  BlUv  Acli  in  a  liule  Time;  auil  lestures  the  Lae  of  tlie  Limbs 


'^AmMmmmmrhmm 


CENTEXXfAL   ADDRESS. 


43 


!irf''iiii-  (tlio'  tif  ncvci-  so  loi",  (  ontimiiiiico.)  and  i^  cxo'llciit  for  tlio 
(ioiil.  I'juiuiif  of  Mr.  Sainin'l  (I'l'rri.-'li,  r>uok~clli'r.  iic.ir  tln^ 
IJrick  Mfctiiiy  House,  over  iiifaiii>t  tlic  'rown-IIoiix'  in  llostdii. 
N.  Ji.  The  Poor  who  urc  not  uhh'  to  pay  for  it.  may  have  it 
(/ratis. 

Tho  early  practitloiuTs  of  iiu'tllcine  liad  a  foiitl- 
iiess  i'or  voiU'wi'C'lion,  and  th(!  lanct't  was  in  conslant 
requisition.  Good  Deacon  and  Doctor  Fuller, 
Avho  lived  id  Plviuoutli,  writes  to  Govei'uor  lirad- 
lord,  under  date  of  June  28,  l(j.'}(),  "I  liave  been 
at  Matapan  [Dorchester  |,  at  the  request  of  Mr. 
"NV'arham,  and  let  some  twenty  of  these  ])e()i)lc 
blood;  I  had  conference  Avith  them,  till  I  was 
weary."  This  last  exi)ression  may  have  been  also 
his  <>uide  in  the  medical  treatment;  that  is,  he 
continued  to  bleed  until  he  got  tired.  Such  heroic 
])i'actice  was  of  common  occurrence,  and  exciti'd 
no  remark.  The  ministers  too  were  expert  in 
l)hlebotoniy,  and  they  were  wont  to  bleed  and  l)ray, 
in  all  severe  cases.  Then  there  were  the  barber- 
surgeons  who  wielded  with  ecjual  facility  the  razor 
and  the  lancet,  as  well  as  used  the  jaw-breaking 
key  on  the  aching  teeth  of  their  unfoi'tunate 
friends.  The  pathetic  stoiy  of  William  Dinely 
has  often  been  told.  lie  was  a  barber-surgeon 
who  perished  during  a  severe  snow-storm,  De- 
cembei'  15,  1G38,  between  Boston  and  Roxbury, 
whither  he  was  going  to  pull  a  tooth.  It  Avas  many 
days  before  his  body  was  iound,  and  his  poor 
widow  sutfered  great  anguish.  Her  grief  hastened 
the  coming  event  Avhich  she  was  autici|)ating  Avith 
so  much  joy,  and  she  named  the  baby  Iuilhcf(/o)ie 
Dinely. 


^. 


44 


NTENXIAL   ADDRESS. 


if 


m 


Formerly  in  P]n;j;lan(l  the  patient,  while  nnder- 
goiiiij;'  venesection,  was  wont  to  gi'asp  a  pole  in 
order  to  make  the  blood  How  more  freely,  and  as 
the  pole  was  lial)le  to  be  stained,  it  was  painted 
red.  When  it  was  not  in  use,  the  barber  would 
hiwv^  it  up  on  the  outside  of  his  door,  with  white 
Jinen  swathiny-bands  twisted  round  it.  The  i-ed 
and  white  pole  of  the  present  day,  so  eonspieuons 
in  front  ;)f  barbers'  shops,  has  resulted  by  evolution 
from  this  custom.  It  is  worthy  of  note  that,  in 
this  country  since  the  Great  Rebellion,  a  blue 
stripe  is  frecpiently  added,  makin<>'  the  i)atriotic 
combin;ition  of  the  "  Red,  White,  and  Blue." 

The  character  of  the  diseases  that  juevailed  in 
the  eaiiy  days  of  the  colony  was  substantially  the 
same,  though  not  entirely,  as  nowadays.  It  is 
known  that  intermittent  fever  often  occurred  in 
certnin  sections  of  Massachusetts,  where  now  it 
is  never  seen. 

The  Reverend  Mr.  Danforth,  of  Roxbury,  during 
the  winter  of  1G(>0,  makes  the  following  entry  in 
the  Chui'ch  Recoi'ds:  "The  Lord  was  pleased  to 
vi^-ite  vs,  with  epidemical  colds,  coughs,  agues,  & 
fevers." — (Page  11)9.;  lender  date  of  Sei)temb<>v 
8, 1G71,  he  says  furthermore:  "  This  sununer  mai.y 
■Nv^ere  visited  with  y"  ague  &  fever."  And  again 
ihe  next  year,  Septem])er  11,  he  records:  "  Agues 
&  fevers  prevailed  nuicli  among  vs  about  y*"  Bay,  & 
fluxes  &  vomiting  at  Boston."  These  extracts  are 
taken  from  the  printed  edition,  ])reviously  noticed. 

flohn  Josselyn,  who  has  been  already  mentioned 
in  these  pages,  wrote  "  An  Account  of  Two  V^oy- 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


45 


ages  to  'N'ew-Eiig'land,"  which  was  published  at 
London  in  the  year  1()74.  lie  s])eaks  of  arriving 
at  Boston,  Se[)tember  1,  1071,  and  finding  "  the 
Inhabitants  exceedingly  afHicted  with  gi'iping  of 
the  guts,  and  Feaver,  anil  Ague,  and  bloody 
Flux." — (Page  213.)  In  another  place  he  says 
that  "  the  Diseases  that  the  EtujUsh  are  afflicted 
with,  are  the  same  that  they  have  in  En(jland,  with 
some  pi'oper  to  New-Etuiland,  griping  of  the  belly 
(accompanied  with  Feaver  and  Ague)  Avhich  turns 
to  the  bloudy-tlux,  a  common  disease  in  the  Coun- 
trey." — (Page  1S3.)  Joshua  Scottow,  in  his  "  Old 
Men's  Tears,"  published  in  1(391,  with  a  nomen- 
clature more  exi)ressive  than  elegant  speaks  of  the 
"  burning  and  spotted  Fevers,  shaking  Agues,  dry 
Belly  Achs,  plague  of  the  Guts,  and  divers  other 
sore  distempers"  (page  15),  which  have  afflicted  the 
plantation.  The  plain  Anglo-Saxon  word,  used  as 
a  synonym  of  the  intestinal  canal,  has  gone  down 
in  the  language,  and  become  indelicate  to  this 
generation. 

The  well  ventilated  houses  of  that  period,  while 
inviting  some  disorders,  kept  oif  others,  and 
their  occupants  somehow  or  other  managed  to  live 
to  a  good  old  age.  The  men  had  not  as  yet  ac- 
quired the  habit  of  using  those  rasping  liquors,  so 
conducive  to  renal  affections,  but  contented  them- 
selves with  honest  rum  and  pure  wines,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  product  of  their  home-brewing. 
Small-pox  was  to  them  a  terror,  which  has  since 
been  deprived  of  much  of  its  dread.  In  short,  the 
modifications  of  disease,  as  now  seen,  are  due 
7 


46 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


!    i' 


i  * 


1 1\  % 


principally  to  the  different  circumstances  and  habits 
of  Hfe  prevailing  in  the  community.  The  settlers 
m  the  main  led  quiet  and  unexciting  lives;  and 
there  was  little  tendency  to  those  mental  disorders 
which  are  so  characteristic  of  an  active  business 
community.  The  delicate  relations  existing  be- 
tween the  mind  and  the  body  were  rarely  disturbed 
by  outside  influences ;  and  when  the  manifestation 
of  such  a  disturbance  took  place,  it  was  considered 
a  visitation  from  heaven  or  the  other  place,  and 
the  treatment  was  to  be  found  in  prayer.  If  the 
intellect  was  beclouded  by  a  haze  or  excited  by 
illusions,  the  explanation  was  sought  anywhere 
but  in  the  right  direction.  It  was  not  known  that 
there  are  physical  causes  for  many  metaphysical 
facts. 

Twenty  years  before  the  outbreak  of  witchcraft 
at  Salem,  a  young  maiden  of  Groton  was  seized 
with  a  variety  of  nervous  disorders,  constituting  a 
well-marked  case  of  hysteria,  which  created  a 
great  deal  of  excitement  in  the  town.  At  the 
outset  it  baffled  the  skill  of  the  neighbors,  who 
were  inclined  to  think  that  she  was  possessed  of 
the  devil;  and  the  minister  was  called  in,  who 
talked  with  her  and  prayed  with  her,  but  all  to  no 
purpose.  A  physician  was  sent  for  next,  "  who 
judged  a  maine  p*  of  her  distemper  to  be  naturall, 
arising  from  the  foulnesse  of  her  stomacke  & 
corruptnesse  of  her  blood,  occasioning  fumes  in 
her  braine,  &  strange  fansyes."  Finally  the  poor 
girl  confessed  that  she  had  made  a  covenant  with 
the  Devil;  and  her  actions  were  so  strange  that 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


d7 


the  doctor  was  nonplussed  and  threw  np  the  case, 
lie  then  "  consented  that  the  distemper  was  Dia- 
bolicall,  refused  further  to  administer,  advised  to 
extraordinary  fasting."  A  council  of  ministers 
was  convened  to  consider  the  matter,  but  they 
did  not  seem  to  help  her.  The  poor  girl  afterward 
declared  that  she  had  signed  a  league  with  his 
black  majesty,  in  her  own  blood.  It  is  not  recorded 
what  became  of  the  girl;  but  if  she  had  been 
attacked  twenty  years  later,  she  would  have  been 
tried  and  hanged  as  a  witch.  A  long  account  of 
the  case  is  given  in  the  Massachusetts  Historical 
Collections,  fourth  series,  YIII.  555. 

Much  of  the  mist  in  the  medical  atmosphere  of 
the  colony  had  been  blown  from  the  shores  of 
the  mother-country.  The  credulity  of  the  igno- 
rant was  remarkable.  In  England  the  touch  of 
the  royal  monarch, 

"  Such  sanctity  hath  Heaven  given  his  hand," 

was  considered  a  specific  for  the  King's  evil  or 
scrofula.  The  custom  began  as  early  as  the  reign 
of  Edward  the  Confessor,  and  was  kept  up  until 
that  of  George  I.,  when  it  was  dropped.  At  one 
time  a  form  of  prayer  used  in  touching  for  the 
evil  was  inserted  in  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer. 
It  is  not  strange,  therefore,  that  some  lingering 
faith  in  the  absurd  custom  should  crop  out  in  New 
England.  A  petition  is  on  file,  among  the  Massa- 
chusetts Archives  (CXXYIII.  270),  from  a  poor 
man  asking  the  Governor  to  grant  him  a  hrief, 
which  is  another  name  for  a  license  to  collect 
money  for  a  specified  purpose.    It  is  as  follows : — 


T 


i\ 


I 


m 


I  ii 


h: 


48 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


To  his  ExccUoiipys  S'  Ediiund  Aiidrows  Cap*  CJcii'!'  of  all  h\n 
MiijcHtics  Iforsus  of  New  Kiiyiaiul  uiid  (iovcrnour  ol'  uU  y"  said 
T(!riltory('H 

The  liiiinblo  petition  of  William  llufchiiis  Inhabitant  In  y* 
provinci)  of  Now  Ilanipshrio     In  New  Knjflaiid 

Ihinihlo  Shewoth  That  y"  Lord  hath  hoen  pleasod  thnni^jh  lii.s 
Kij^ditcousn  [ess]  to  visit  and  corroot  yo'  pooro  Snpjdycant  about 
y"  spaco  [or]  tornio  of  Six  yoaros  with  vntollorablo  soors  all  over 
his  Mo[dy]  Not  withstandinn  hue  hath  made  vso  y"  iMost  Lcarnod 
&  S(!ilfnk'ist  phisitians  that  hee  could  iiuare  off ;  bnt  found  .  .  . 
[remjc'dy  as  to  his  Cure;  And  Sundry  persons  .ludf^nicnt  is,  that 
the  Lord  hath  apointed  to  Salve  yo' much  aflcetod  Supplycant  non 
but  our  Gracious  Lci<fht  the  King,  Therefore  hee  and  many  ot'iers 
Humbly  Concaves  that  It  is  y"  sors  th[at]  is  Commonly  ca..jd 
y*  Kings  Evell,  And  though  his  aflcction  bee  Exceeding  Greifeous 
by  his  Ilnesse  of  Ilody  hee  W(mld  redresse  hinis  sebu!  too'  Sover- 
aigo  Lord  y"  King  for  Hemedy  not  Doubting  but  (iod  hath  ap- 
pointed him  for  much  good  to  all  his  Sulijects,  and  in  particular  to 
yo'  poore  aflected  [)etition^  but  am  witlihoulden  from  his  goeing  to 
his  ^lajestie,  by  his  Exceeding  pourety ;  for  one  aflection  Seldome 
comes  without  Its  secound  viz'   .    .    . 

Therefore  yo'  poore  aflected  petition'  Humbly  liceseeches 
yo'  Excellency  soe  to  Consider  yo'  poore  Deploreable  and  much 
aflected  petition"  Condition ;  And  y'  yo'  Excellency  would  bee 
please  to  Grannt  him  A  IJreife;  to  see  what  Christian  people 
wilbe  please  freely  to  Contribute  towards  yo'  petition'  transporta- 
tion And  In  so  Doeing  It  will  oblige  him  pray  for  yo'  Excellency 
health  «&  happynesse  and  Subscriei)  himseffe  Yo'  obliged  and 

Dutyfid!  Serv' 

June  19,  1G88  Wii-liam  IIutciiins. 

I  introduce  the  following  papers,  found  among 
the  Massachusetts  Archives  at  the  State  House,  in 
order  to  show,  in  some  particulars,  the  position  of 
medical  matters  during  the  early  history  of  the 
colony.  They  throw  certain  side-lights  on  simple 
subjects,  and  help  to  illustrate  the  daily  aiFairs  of 
colonial  life. 

The  first  is  a  petition  presented  to  the  General 
Court,  in  the  year  1045.  It  was  written  by  Dr. 
Thomas  Oliver,  a  practising  physician  of  Boston, 
who  was  a  most  useful  citizen,  active  both  in  town 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRF^SS. 


49 


»g 


le 
le 


and  churcli  iiiiittiTH.  In  Jolni  I  lull's  Diary,  |)iil)- 
lislu'd  in  llic  "  Ar('lia'()I()<;ia  uVnu-i'icana "  (III. 
1.Sl>),  it  i.s  ivconii'd  that  "  Tlio  1st  of  the  1  Ith 
jnontii  [January  1,  ](3.")7-H|,  Mr.  Thomas  Oliver, 
one  of  the  rulin<;'  elders  of  tiiis  ciiurcli,  died,  heing 
ninety  years  old, — a  man  by  his  outward  proCessioii 
a  ehii'urgeon." 

IMiiy  it  iiloase  tliis  hoiioivd  Court  to  Consider  of  y'  Piiiiit-s  and 
Cost:  I  IiaiK!  l)in  at  in  drrssini,'.  .I(isc|ili  Wliitisofy'  discaso  called 
y"  kinjfs  cvi!!.  w''  liatli  liiiK'  vndcrniy  hand  s'po.i .  20.  nionllis  liotli 
for  st'rjfcry  .  and  |ihisirk.  y''  disease  lieinfj;  in  my  .ludjirnent  liai'd 
to  1)(!  Cured  \v' out  anipnfation  (\v'"y''l»(>y  would  never  Consent 
vnio)  yet  I  know  not  what  y"  lord  will  do  in  l)lessing  y"  nieaties 
vsed.  fen-  he  is  in  jrood  eiise  for  y"  pressent  and  is  able  to  wnrkc  tor 
his  lining  and  hegine  to  tread  upon  his  foote 

Y"  in  all  dewty  to  bo  co       Tilo:  Omvkb 

I  would  for  the  time  past  if  it.  please  you  .  <leniand  for  my  Pains 
and  Cost  1 2  -  (JO  -  00 

The  mafiisfrafes  judiji!  it  reasonable  that  the  Petitioner  demand 

sho\dd   be   granted   t^   desire   the   cuneurrence  of   the    Deputyes 

herein 

/,,         ,       .^     4     t  •  iA        .lo:  Wintiikop:  D:  Go: 

(Alussacliusetts  Archives,  c.  10.; 

There  are  other  petitions  of  a  similar  eharaeter, 
and  l>ills  for  medical  attendance  made  out  against 
the  government,  which  are  on  file  at  the  State 
House.  Sometimes  such  papers  were  acted  on 
favorably  by  the  pidilic  oilicers,  and  sometimes  not; 
though  I  am  unable  to  lind  out  by  what  authority 
such  accounts  were  paid,  except  on  the  broad 
ground  of  Christian  charity.  As  early  Jis  the  year 
1G41,  the  General  Court  ordered  that  it  woidd 
"grant  no  Benevolence,  except  in  forreign  occti- 
sions,  and  when  there  is  Money  in  the  Treasury 
sufficient,  and  our  debts  ffrst  satisfied.'" 


'  The  General  Laws  and  Liberties  of  the  Massachusetts  Colony,  page  9. 


In 


.  ^!l 


|i  1 

s 

'*'■  1 

H!i! 


50 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


Another  ]iapor  of  the  same  imi)ort  as  Ohver's 
is  that  of  John  Kndieott,  Jr.,  who  j^ives  the  items 
of  his  bill ;  and  Avith  it  are  otlier  documents.  They 
are  as  follows: — 

Know  all  men  Ity  tlicas  proasonce  that  I  .Tolin  Clarke  beinge 
ucry  sickn  and  liaue  bin  with  .M'^  Talor  hut  finding  no  good,  hy  the 
(jlouornors  order  was  sent  to  M'  Endecott  .md  tlirough  the  goodnes 
of  god  am  recouered  out  of  tliat  disease 

As  witnes  my  hand:  Jo"  Clakke 

the  28   10  (i7 

a  poor  man  one  John  Clarke  being  weak  and  sike  by  reason  of 
a  s(niruy  and  a  dropsy,  by  tiu;  Consent  of  tiie  (jlouernercame  to  me 
and  through  tli(!  gocxlnes  of  god  by  the  use  of  such  means  as  god 
lit  put  in  to  my  heart  he  is  finiy  recouered  out  of  his  diseas 


Jo.  Em)1x:ott 


Cirurgio" 


M  Endecott  after  }•'  M"^  Taler  came  to  me  and  gaue  him  over, 
did  undertake  to  helpe  him,  it  hatii  bcene  at  Labor  and  cost  about 
it  and  though  the  disease  be  treated  yet  the  man  wanting  good  re- 
freshinge  is  but  weake.     1  desire  that  M'  Endecott  may  be  .  .  . 

Hi.  1)1.1. LiNMiHAM  G. 

Debiter  to  John  Endicott  for  the  Cure  of  J[ohn  Clarke,] 

By  Conserue  de  Asinthiuin 01     00 

]}y  a  Vomit  and  atendans 00     0.3     00 

By  a  Cordiall  Electuary 00     10     00 

By  Conserue  de  Cochiearia 00     10     00 

By  viset.s  and  seucrall  other  medisense    .     .     01     00 

o;}    Oo     . 
Taken  out  of  ^V  John  Endicotts  booke  written  b}'  him  selfe 

The  Deputyes  Judge  meete  that  this  l)ill  of  n""  ")"  0.  be  ])ayd  to 
the  Successor  of  M:  John  Endecott  by  the  CoiTiittee  ap])oynted  to 
take  care  of  those  poore  people!,  if  they  liaue  ar.y  Stocke  in  their 
hands,  or  otherwise  that  it  be  payd'lty  the  Country  Treasurer,  with 
refferrence  to  the  Consent  of  or  lion''.''    mai;ists  hereto 

IS:  8'.''  1808  Wii.M,\M  Tokuky  Cleric 

not  Consented  too  by  y"  iVIagistrats 

\)  curiam  John  Pvnciion 
but  on  further.  Consideration.  .Tiidge  meet  to  refeer  to  the  Treasurer 
wiio  on  Confeieiic  w"'  some  phisitian  may  allow  him  what  he  see' 
Just,  their  brethren  the  deputy  hereto.  Consenting: 

Edw.  Kawson  Secret 

Consented  to  by  the  l)<'piityes  William  Tokkev  Cleric 

(Massachusetts  Archives,  c.  liy-122.) 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


61 


The  following  bill  gives  a  fair  idea  of  the  fees 
for  visits  and  the  cost  of  medicines  two  hundred 
years  ago,  when  physicians  furnished  their  own 
drngs.  Richard  Skinner  was  a  niarinei-,  and  it 
seems  that  a  suit  was  brought  against  him,  by  Dr. 
Bassett,  for  medical  attendance  on  his  hite  ^vife. 
It  is  not  recorded  what  was  the  matter  with  her, 
but  it  is  evident  that  one  of  her  symptoms  was 
constiiJation. 

Novemfc  23".'  1(591  M:  Skinners  Hill  for 

medicam"  Adniinistred  to  his  late  Wife 

f  s  .1 

Imp"  One  great  laxative  potion  to  be  taken  in  two  doses  .  (»  1  (t 

21"     one  laxative  (liister 0  2  0 

more  another  (llister  the  same  day U  2  U 

more  one   (ireut   Cordial   potion  to  take  at  seuall 

times 0  10 

more  another  great  potion  to  evacuate  the  humors  as 

ahoue     •     •     •. 0  10 

for  diuei's  visitts  to  giue  orders  for  her  nioderatinji )  ,,  ,.  ,. 
lierselte  ni  lier  dyet  it  otiier  neeessiarie  advice      ) 

Xemfc  1"  for  one  prize  Js'epliritick  pills 0  '}  0 

more  for  one  Laxatine  ditto 0  ,'}  0 

for  another  potion  more  Composed 0  4  0 

10    for    a    great    sudoriti(i    ct    divreti(iue     potion)  . 

against  the  oitstriiction  of  the  reiiies  \ 

for   more   vissitts  as  ahoue   being  in  all  abnue  40 

Times 0  fi  0 

for  flooding  her  in  the  Arme 0  10 

Error  Excepted    in  Boston  the  -iC.'"  Aprill  IC.'.li 

I'r.rr.K  IJasskit  Doctor 

April.  27.  1C92    Dr.  Peter   IJassett   made   Oath  to  the  Account 
above  in  County  Court 

Attest  JosKi'ii  Wi;bu  Cler 

(Massachusetts  Archives,  xxxvii.  333.) 

The  i'ollowing  letter  gives  a  list  of  medicines  tiiat 
were  probably  in  conmion  use  at  the  time  of  its 
date.    It  was  written  by  Dr.  Humphrey  JJradstreet, 


w 


1'  ■' 


In 


r: 


:  W 


^i 

m 


52 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


just  after  the  attack  made  by  the  Indians  on  York, 
Maine,  when  there  was  a  hirge  nnmbei*  of  Englisli 
killed,  wounded,  or  carried  away  by  the  enemy. 
Dr.  Bradstreet  was  a  young'  physician,  who  after- 
ward settled  at  liowley,  Massachusetts.  Some  of 
the  names  in  the  list,  to  say  the  least,  are  quaint. 
Oleum  catdlorum  or  pujipies'  oil,  as  a  medicine, 
has  gone  out  of  use,  but  skunk's  oil,  rattlesnake's 
oil,  and  goose's  oil,  equally  absurd,  are  all  now  to 
be  found  in  the  domestic  pharmacopoGia  of  many 
a  New-England  family.  The  Latinity  of  some  of 
the  words  may  be  questioned,  and  it  would  be 
difficult  to  give  their  modern  equivalents.  A.  Latin 
suffix  on  an  Anglo-Saxon  root  looks  odd,  but  at 
the  same  time  Emjdastrum  Stidicum  is  expressive. 
The  letter  contains  an  expression  that  has  dropped 
out  of  the  technical  language  of  the  profession. 
After  speaking  of  medicines  for  "gunn  shott 
wounds  as  for  y"  first  intentions,"  the  writer  goes 
on  to  say  that  he  has  some  still  left  that  "might  be 
prop""  for  y"  last  Intentions  but  not  for  y''  first." 
Every  physician  is  familiar  with  the  iarmjirst  inten- 
tion as  applied  to  the  healing  of  wounds;  but  last 
intention  is  now  never  heard  in  such  cases,  though  it 
is  easy  to  see  that  it  means  healing  by  granulation. 

Portsm'.'  January  y°  20:   l()f*| 

To  the  Hon'''''  the  Gouern'  and  Coiincill  of  y"  Massatuset  CoUony 

in  N  England 

IMay  it  please  your  honours  I  make  bold  with  all  huinhlc  sub- 
mission to  acquaint  yo''  Honours  that  I  am  altogather  out  of 
INIedicens  for  gunn  shott  wounds  as  for  y"  first  Intentions,  and  as 
w(>e  haue  had  verry  lamentabk!  Incursions  soe  lately  at  York  and 
killing  and  wounding  ifc  Carrying  away,  as  your  Hon"  ha\e  al- 
ready heard  wee  Innubly  hope,  and  how  suddainly  we  may  haue 
y'  like  God  only  knows — w'^''  iu  his  Mercie  preuent,  and  should 


ii 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


53 


I  be  Comma[n]<le<l  to  irmroh  out  with  an  armie  Speedcly  Such 
things  must  be  jjrocurcd  hut  Cannot  be  had  here,  and  for  those 
few  niefUcens  y'  were  hist  sent  Some  of  them  might  be  prop''  for 
y''  last  Intentions  hut  not  for  y''  first,  I  hauo  made  hold  to  Intimate 
vnderneatli  what  medisens  may  be  proj)er,  humbly  subscribe  that 
I  am     Yor  Hon?  most  Ready  and  humbly  deuoted  Seru'. 

IIuMriiKY  Bhadstreet. 


Electuarium  lenitivum    . 

2  lb 

PiluhcRudii    .     .     .     . 

ilb 

Olium  Catellorium   .     . 

2  lb 

Olium  Iiypericonis  cum 

gumis 

3  1b 

Olium  hypcrici  Simp     . 

2  lb 

Olium  Tercbinthani  . 

2  lb 

Emp' diachylon  Cum 

guffil  lb 

Olium  .Succini      .     .     , 

1   § 

Emp.  diacalcitlieoa 

.     .  1  lb 

yu<ruent  deminio  Suie 

Sperrit  of  wine   . 

.     .  1  lb 

rubrum  Cainphra  . 

1  lb 

Gum  Galbanum    . 

.     .4| 

Vn.5  album  1  lb     Vng 

gum  P^lemni    .     . 

.    .55 

Nicotiana    .     .     . 

1  11) 

gum  Olibanum     . 

.    .45 

Vng  dialtlica  .     .     . 

1  lb 

Gum.  Vphorbium 

.    .35 

Vng  diapumpliologua 

1  lb 

llordium  galicum 

.     .6  1b 

Vug  popiilcou      .     . 

.  1  lb 

Vn :  anodinum     .     , 

1  lb 

Vng:  Egiptiacura 

.  1  lb 

fflos  vnguentorum 

1  lb 

Emplast  Sticticuin     . 

.  1  11) 

Empla  diapallma 

1  11) 

(Massachusetts  Archives,  xxxvli.251.) 

The  women  liad  their  representatives  in  the 
profes>?ion  in  olden  times  as  well  as  in  our  day, 
though  they  were  not  so  strenuous  in  regard  to 
their  })olitieal  rights  as  are  their  modern  sisters. 
Anne  Hutchinson  was  among  the  earliest  of  the 
sisterhood  who  practised  medicine  in  Massa- 
chusetts. She  came  to  Boston  in  the  year  1G3G, 
and  in  "  A  Short  Story,"  &c.,  by  Thomas  Welde 
(London,  1644),  she  is  spoken  of  as  a  person 
"very  helpfull  in  the  times  of  child-birth,  and  other 
occasions  of  bodily  infirmities,  and  well  furnished 
8 


1" 


l)  ' 


i>  I 


li:l 


iilll" 


54 


CENTENNIAL  ADDEESS. 


with  means  for  those  purposes." — (Page  31.)  She 
was  a  noted  character  m  colonial  history,  and  by 
her  heretical  teachings  and  preachings  soon  threw 
the  whole  settlement  into  a  flame,  foi*  which  she 
was  subsequently  banished. 

The  town  of  Rehoboth,  Massachusetts,  on  July 

3,  1GG3,  "  voted  and  agreed  that [Mrs. 

Bridget  Fuller,  of  Plymouth,]  should  be  sent  to, 
to  see  if  she  be  willing  to  come  and  dwell  amongst 
us,  to  attend  on  the  office  of  a  midwife,  to  answer 
the  town's  necessity,  which  at  present  is  great." — 
(Bliss's  History,  page  53.) 

Mrs.  Fuller  was  the  widow  of  Dr.  Samuel  Fuller, 
one  of  the  Mayflower  passengers,  who  has  been 
mentioned  before  in  these  pages.  This  official 
invitation,  however,  was  not  accepted,  as  she  con- 
tinued to  dwell  in  Plymouth,  where  she  died  some 
time  during  the  next  year.  She  had  learned  the 
art,  doubtless,  from  her  husband. 

In  the  Rcxbury  Church  Records,  under  date  of 
November  2/^  1665,  Mr.  Danforth,  the  minister, 
writes : — 

"  M"  Sarah  Alcock  dyed,  a  vertuous  woman,  of  vnstained  life, 
very  skilful  in  physickifc  chirurgery,  exceeding  active  yea  vnwear- 
ied  in  ministering  to  y"  necessities  of  others.  Her  workes  praise 
her  in  y*-"  gates."— (Page  203.) 

Her  husband,  like  Mrs.  Fuller's,  was  a  physician ; 
and  he  is  mentioned  in  the  next  paragraph. 

Two  years  later,  March  27,  1667,  it  is  recorded 
in  the  same  book  that  "  M*"  John  Alcock  Physician, 
dyed.  His  liver  was  dryed  up  &  become  schir- 
rous." — (Page  205.)  Possibly  an  autopsy  was 
made  in  this  case. 


I  lif' 


CENTENlSriAL   ADDRESS. 

The  following  quaint  epitaph  is  found  in  the 
Phipps  Street  buvying-ground  at  Chai'lestown,  and 
would  seem  to  indicate  that  occasionally  in  early 
times  midwives  were  commissioned  to  practise 
their  calling.  Some  mischievous  person  has  skil- 
fully changed  the  number  on  the  stone  slab,  so 
that  3,000  reads  130,000:— 

Here  lyes  Interred  y*  Body  of 

Mr'    {Elizabeth   Phillips,    Wife 

to  Mr  Eleazeu  Phillips.  Who 

was  Born  in  Westminster,  in  Great 

Brittain.  &  Conimission'd  by  John 

Lord.  Bishop,  of  London,  in  y°  Year 

1718  to  y«  OiKce  of  a  Midwife;  &  came 

to  this  Country,  in  y«  Year  1719.  &  by 

y'  Blessing  of  God,  has  brought  into 

this  world  above  3000  Children: 
Died  May  6*"  1761.    Aged  76  Years. 

In  the  year  1G48  Margaret  Jones,  of  Charles- 
town,  was  found  guilty  of  witchcraft ;  and  she  was 
the  first  person  hanged  in  New  England  for  that 
offence.  She  had  been  a  practising  physician,  and 
her  medicines,  according  to  the  best  testimony  of 
that  period,  had  "  extraordinary  violent  eflPects." 
It  was  said  that  "  she  would  use  to  tell  such  as 
would  not  make  use  of  her  physic,  that  they 
would  never  be  healed,  and  accordingly  their 
diseases  and  hurts  continued,  with  relapse  against 
the  ordinary  course,  and  beyond  the  apprehension 
of  all  physicians  and  surgeons." 

In  this  way  she  used  her  powers  as  a  witch  to 
acquire  practice  and  increase  her  gpiiis;  according 
to  the  judgment  of  her  contemporiiries,  she  suf- 
fered a  just  penalty  of  her  sins.     I  wonder  much 


mm 


V' 

1; 

1 

1- 

L 
I 

I    ■■ 

•  1!', 

i':[ 

III 


'-:   ■I 


i  i> 


56 


CENTENNIAL  ADDRESS. 


whether  there  is  any  similar  travesty  of  intelli- 
gence in  our  day.  The  pretensions  of  the  healing 
mediums  and  other  charlatans  suggest  an  unsatis- 
factory answer. 

Subsequent  to  this  period  inquests  were  held, 
and  post  mortem  examinations  made,  at  various 
times  in  Massachusetts  during  the  seventeenth 
century,  and  a  certain  amount  of  anatomical 
knowledge  was  thus  picked  up.  The  relative 
position  of  the  internal  organs  and  their  general 
appearance  were  learned  in  this  way  by  the  persons 
who  witnessed  the  operations.  The  ad^  antages 
that  one  may  derive  from  his  opportunities  depends 
upon  himself  alone,  and  at  this  late  day  it  cannot 
be  estimated  how  much  the  profession  gained  from 
these  limited  sources.  ]S^o  one  can  tell  how  far 
thought  in  the  early  dawn  of  colonial  medicine 
was  stimulated  by  such  examinations. 

The  result  of  an  inquest  held  June  1,  1670,  on 
the  body  of  Jacob  Goodale,  is  recorded  in  the 
Essex  County  Court  Papers  (Yolume  XXX.  leaf 
46),  at  Salem,  in  the  complaint  against  Giles 
Corey.     The  jury  found — 

"  seueral  wrongs  he  hath  had  on  liis  body-  as  vpon  his  left  arme 
and  vpon  his  right  tliigh,  a  great  bruise,  w"^""  is  very  much  swold. 
and  vpon  tiie  reyues  of  his  backe.  in  colour,  difleringe  from  the 
other  parts  of  his  body  we  caused  an  incision  to  be  made  much 
bruised  ami  Run  w"'  a  gelly  and  the  skiu  broke  vpon  the  outside 
of  each  buttocke. 

Sworne  to  30:  4^  76" 

This  is  the  case  which  Cotton  Mather  mentions 
in  "The  Wonders  of  the  Invisible  World." — 
(Boston,  1693.)    It  is  there  stated — 


l\      I 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


57 


"That  abont  Seventeen  Years  ai^o.  Oiki<  Con/ kept  ;i  iinii  in 
liis  House,  that  was  almost  a  Natural  Kool ;  which  Man  DyM  sud- 
denly. A  Jury  was  Iinpaiinel'd  upon  him,  amonjf  whom  was 
Dr.  Zurobbdbel  Endicvl ;  who  found  the  man  bruised  to  Death, 
and  having  dodders  of  Blood  about  his  Heart." — (I'age  14G.) 

In  an  inquest  held  May  2, 1GT8,  and  recorded  in 
the  Essex  County  Court  Papers  (Volume  XXX. 
leaf  4G),  at  Salem,  tlie  return  is  made  by  the 
"  Chirurgeon  "  that  he — 

"  searcht  the  Body  of  one  called  Edward  Bodye:  T  made  Inci- 
sion upon  the  parte  of  his  Body  which  was  most  suspitious  which 
was  u,)on  the  Temporall  Muscle:  I  layd  the  Bones  Beai'e:  wee 
could  nott  find  any  fracture  in  the  least  nether  was  the  Hesh  in 
any  wise  corupted  or  putrified." 

An  account  of  an  autopsy  is  given  in  the 
Roxbury  Church  Records.  It  is  found  in  the 
printed  copy,  under  date  of  August  20,  1074,  and 
is  as  folloAVs : — 

"John  Bridge,  died  of  y"  Winde  Collick  and  was  buried  the 
day  following.  His  body  was  opened,  he  had  sundry  small  holes 
in  his  stomak  &  bowels,  &  one  hole  in  his  stomak  y'  a  man's  fist 
might  passe  tlirough.  w''h  is  thought  was  rent  w'.''  vyolent  stiain- 
ing  to  vomit,  the  night  before  he  dyed,  for  the  watchers  observed 
v'  something  seemed  to  rend  w"'in  him,  and  he  saide  of  it  1  am  a 
dead  man."— (Page  181.) 

This  is  one  of  the  earliest  recorded  instances  of 
a  2>ost  mortem  examination,  to  be  found  in  Kew 
England. 

Jossel^'ii  mentions  an  autopsy  which  occiu'red 
before  this  one,  but  he  gives  no  definite  facts  with 
regard  to  it.  In  "An  Account  of  Two  Yoyiiges 
to  Il^ew-England  "  (London,  167-i),  he  speaks  of — 

"a  young  maid  that  was  troubled  with  a  sore  pricking  at  her 
heart,  still  .ms  she  lean'd  her  body  or  stept  down  with  her  foot  to 
the  one  side  or  the  other ;  this  maid  during  her  distemper  voided 


' 


t 


M 


IS 

h 


58 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


worms  of  tlu!  loiifftli  of  a  (iiiger  all  liairy  witli  black  heads;  it  so 
foil  out  that  the  maid  dywl;  her  friends  desirous  to  diseover  the 
(•aiis(^  of  the  distemper  of  her  heart,  had  hei'  opeii'd.  and  found  two 
crooked  hones  growing;  u|)OU  the  top  of  the  heart,  which  as  she 
bowed  her  body  to  the  right  or  left  side  would  job  their  points 
into  oiif!  iind  the  same  place,  till  they  had  worn  a  hole  quite 
through."— (Page  18G.) 

Cliiof  Justice  Sewall  in  his  Diary,  September 
22,  1(37(3,  speaks  of  an  Indian  who  had  been  hanged 
the  day  before,  and  dissected  on  the  date  of  the 
entry  in  tlie  journal.  The  examination  was  made 
in  the  presence  of  several  persons,  when  one  of 
them — probably  Hooper  by  name — "  taking  tlie  ^ 
in  his  hand  alHrmed  it  to  be  the  stomack." 

The  earliest  treatise  on  a  medical  subject,  pub- 
lished in  this  country,  was  a  broadside,  12  inches 
by  17  in  size,  written  by  the  Reverend  Thomas 
Thacher,  the  first  minister  of  the  "  Old  South." 
It  bears  date  January  21,  1677-8,  and  was  printed, 
and  sold,  by  John  Foster,  Boston.  The  title  is 
"  A  Brief  Rule  To  guide  the  Common  People  of 
New  England  How  to  order  themselves  and  theirs 
in  the  Small  Pocks,  or  Measels."  It  was  intended 
to  furnish  some  popular  hints  in  regard  to  the 
management  of  this  disease,  which  was  then  much 
more  prevalent  than  now.  A  second  edition  of 
this  "  Brief  Rule"  was  printed  in  the  year  1702. 

Dr.  Increase  Mather  wrote  a  pamphlet  entitled 
"  Some  further  Account  from  Zyo«,rZo/i,  of  the  Small- 
Pox  Inoculated.  The  Second  Edition.  AVith  some 
Remarks  on  a  late  Scandalous  Pamphlet  Entituled, 
Inoculation  of  the  Small-Pox  as  practis'd  in  Bos- 
ton," &c.,  Boston,  1721.  The  first  half  of  this 
pamphlet   appeared    originally   in   "  The    Boston 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


59 


lie 


Gazette,"  of  February  5,  1721-22,  Xo.  lir>,  cover- 
ing the  third  page  of  the  ne\vs})aper;  aiul  this 
impression  constituted  tlie  first  edition.  Dr. 
Mather  was  also  the  author  of  u  broadside  printed 
at  Boston,  in  November,  1721,  giving  "Several 
Reasons  proving  that  Inoculating  or  Transplanting 
the  Small-Pox  is  a  Lawful  Practice,  and  that  it 
has  been  Blessed  by  GOD  for  the  Saving  of  many 
a  Life." 

There  is  "A  LETTER,  ahout  a  Good Mcmaqe- 
ment  under  the  Dlstem2)er  of  the  Measles,"  «fcc., 
which  was  printed  Avithout  date  oi"  signature,  some 
time  during  the  last  century.  It  is  mentioned  by 
Dr.  Josiah  Bartlctt,  in  his  histoi-ical  address  deli- 
vered before  this  Society,  June  G,  1810,  who  speaks 
of  it  as  being  "on  the  files"  of  the  Massachusetts 
Historical  Society,  and  leaves  it  to  be  inferred  that 
it  is  in  manusci'i])t.  Dr.  Bartlctt  says  that  it  was 
written,  probably,  during  the  latter  part  of  the  sev- 
enteenth century,  and  that  "it  can  be  viewed  in  no 
other  light,  than  as  an  ancient  curiosity."  Sevei'al 
writers  of  medical  history  have  repeated  the  same 
statement.  The  eopy  of  the  "  Letter "  in  the 
possession  of  the  Historical  Society  is  a  small 
four-page,  printed  sheet,  and  its  full  title  is 
"  A  LETTER,  about  a  Good  Manaijement  under 
the  Distemjjer  of  the  Measles,  at  this  time  Spread- 
ing in  the  Country.  Here  Pahllshedfor  the  ]ie)wfit 
of  the  Poor,  and  such  as  may  ivant  the  help  of 
Able  Physicians.''^ 

It  bears  the  marks  of  having  been  folded,  and 
in  former  times  might  have  been  spoken  of  as  "  on 


!• 


GO 


CENTEKMAL   ADDRESS. 


the  files.'"  It  Is  signed  "  Yonr  //<((rtf/  Frknd 
and  St^rt'dtd,''  and  iininediately  below,  the  words 
"  Cotton  Mather,  I  j;iiess.  by  the  Style  "  are  written 
in  Dr.  Jeremy  lielkna|)'s  iiand-writin^.  On  the 
authority  ol'  this  ^iiess  it  lias  been  asei'ibed  to  Dr. 
Mather;  and  in  the  catalogue  of  ante-revolutionary 
publieations  given  in  the  "  Transactions  "  of  the 
American  Antiquarian  Society,  it  has  been  referred 
to  the  year  171J3  as  the  date  of  its  appearance, 
because  at  that  time  measles  were  very  prevalent 
in  Boston.  An  advertisement,  however,  in  "  The 
Boston  Evening  Post,"  November  12,  ITJJD,  an- 
nounces this  "Letter" — with  its  long  title  given 
exactl}^ — as  ''  eTust  published,"  which  would  seem 
to  fix  the  time  of  its  api)earance.  As.Mather  died 
February  13,  1728,  it  is  plain  that  he  could  not 
have  written  it,  unless  it  was  a  re-publication,  of 
which  there  is  no  evidence. 

Cotton  Mather,  however,  did  write  a  medical 
paper  entitled  "  The  Angel  of  Bethesda,  An  Essay 
upon  the  Common  Maladies  of  Mankind,"  in  which 
he  gives  a  list  of  "  approved  remedies  for  the 
Maladies,  Accompanied  with  jnany  very  practicable 
Directions  for  the  Preservation  of  Health."  The 
original  inanusci'ipt,  which  was  never  published  in 
full,  is  in  the  possession  of  the  America  i  Anti- 
quarian Society  at  Worcester.  An  interesting 
abstract  of  it  was  given  by  Dr.  Joseph  Sargent, 
in  the  "  Proceedings  "  of  that  Society,  for  April 
28,  187'i.  There  is  internal  proof  that  the  essay 
was  comi^lctcd  after  the  year  1724.  It  should 
not  be  confounded  with  "  The  Anael  of  Beth- 


U'    fi         >l 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


U- 


csda,  Visiting-  tlio  TXYALTDS  of  a  Miserable 
"VVOKLl^j"  anotlier  tract  written  by  Mather,  and 
published  at  New  London,  Conneetieut,  in  the 
year  1722,  but  having-  on  tlie  title-j)agc  only  the 
signature  "  ]}y  a  FELLOW  of  the;  KOYAL 
SOCIETY."  There  is  evidently  a  connection  be- 
tween the  two  works,  but  the  manuscript  one  is 
fuller  and  more  extensive. 

Anothei"  medical  tract  by  a  minister, — the  Rev- 
erend Benjamin  Colman, — was  "  Some  Observa- 
tions on  the  New  Method  of  Receiving  the  Small- 
Pox  by  Inyraftuiij  or  Jnoculathuj.  By  Mr. 
Colmau.^^ — (Boston,  1721.)  The  author  shows  as 
nnich  familiarity  with  the  subject  as  was  common 
among  the  medical  writers  of  that  day.  He  ex- 
presses the  o])inion  that  he  does  not  go  out  of  his 
province  in  preparing  the  essay,  as  his  sole  purpose 
is  to  i)reserve  life  and  minister  to  the  comfort  of 
fomilies. 

The  Reverend  Thomas  IL'U'ward, "  A  Licentiate 
of  the  lioyal  College,  and  Lecturer  of  the  lioyal 
Chapell  [now  King's  Chapel] ,  at  Boston,  in  New 
England,^^  wrote  "Electuarium  Novum  Alexiphar- 
macum;  or,  Anew  Cordial,  Alexiterial  and  Resto- 
rative Electuary,"  which  was  published  at  Boston, 
in  the  year  1732.  The  author  proposed  a  much- 
mixed  conglomeration  to  take  the  place  of  mith- 
radate,  a  still  more  complicated  mass  of  medicated 
confusion.  He  speaks  of  the  electuary  as  "  my 
own,"  a  form  of  expression  which  furnished  the 
origin  of  the  word  nostrum,  meaning  our  own  or 

7mj  own. 

9 


i 


02 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


Dr.  Natlianicl  AVilliains,  who  liad  hccn  an  or- 
dained minister,  wrote  a  niedieal  pamphlet  wiiicli 
was  printed  many  years  after  liis  death.  Tiu'  title 
was  "The  MF^I^IIOD  of  Tract iee  in  the  Small' 
Pox,  with  Observations  on  the  Way  of  Inocula- 
tion. Taken  from  a  Manusei-ipt  of  the  late  Dr. 
Nathaniel  AVilltams  of  Boston  in  K.  E. 
Pnblished  for  the  Common  Advanta<^e,  more  es- 
pecially of  the  Country  Tonnis,  who  may  be  visited 
with  that  Distemper." — (Boston,  17/52.)  At  the 
end  it  contains  four  pages  with  the  heading  "  Small 
Pox  by  Inoculation,  in  17JK)."  Dr.  AVilliams  had 
a  large  practice,  and,  perhai)S,  belongs  rather  to 
the  class  of  physicians. 

These  instances  are  enough  to  show  that  in 
former  times  the  ministers  took  an  active  interest 
in  medicine,  and  that  some  of  them  wrote  practical 
treatises  on  the  subject. 

In  the  Reverend  Thomas  Prince's  preface  to  the 
pam})hlet  last  mentioned,  it  is  stated  that  Williams 
studied  with  "  the  Learned  Di*.  James  Oliver  of 
Camhridge ;  one  of  the  most  esteemed  Physicians 
in  his  Day;  who  had  a  singular  Help  in  the  Art  of 
Chymistry  by  the  ingenious  Dr.  Lodowich  a  Oer- 
man,  who  was  also  accounted  an  excellent  Physi- 
cian, and  the  most  skilful  Chymist  that  ever 
came  into  these  Parts  of  America.''^  I  think 
that  Dr.  Lodowick  was  the  same  person  as 
Christian  Lodowick  who  wrote  a  letter  to 
Increase  Mather,  about  the  Quakers.  It  is 
dated  February  1,  1G91-2,  and  was  subsequently 
printed. 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


63 


The  colony  and  province  of  MasKjuhiisctls  suf- 
fered severely  i'roni  the  scourge  of  HUiall-pox,  and 
the  e[)ideinie8  of  it  were  periodical.  Tiiere  was 
no  weapon  to  figiit  it,  and  when  once  started  the 
dreaded  disease  burned,  like  a  l)i<^  lire,  until  all  the 
material  for  contagion  was  used  up.  The  mortality 
from  it  was  large,  and  the  elfect  disastrous;  and 
any  help  was  a  boon  to  the  community.  Under 
these  (drcumstanees  the  introduction  of  inoculation 
for  small-])ox  was  a  long  stride  in  advance,  though 
it  was  opi)osed  at  the  outset  in  i)art  on  religious 
grounds.  It  was  contended  by  some  that  an  epi- 
demic was  a  judgment  from  God  for  the  sins  of  a 
peo[)le,  and  any  attempt  to  avert  it  was  an  inter- 
ference with  His  prerogative  and  would  })rovoke 
Him  the  more.  This  view  was  opposed  by  others; 
and  Dr.  Zabdlel  JJoylston,  who  was  to  be  a  promi- 
nent character  in  the  controversy,  wrote  at  the 
very  beginning  of  it  a  pamphlet  giving  "Some 
ACCOUNT  of  what  is  said  of  Inoculating  or 
Transi)lanting  the  Small  Pox.  By  the  Learned 
Dr.  Einanuel  Tlmonias,  and  Jacobus  Pylarinus 
with  some  Kemarks  thereon.  To  which  are  added 
A  Few  Quwries  in  Answer  to  the  Scriqiles  of  many 
about  the  Lawfulness  of  this  Method.''^ — (Boston, 
1721.) 

Tlie  Revci-end  AVilliam  Cooper,  of  Boston,  wrote 
"A  Kej)ly  to  the  Ohjecllons  made  against  taking 
the  Small  Pox  in  the  AV^ay  of  Inoculation  from 
Principles  of  Conscience.  In  a  Letter  to  a  Friend 
in  the  Country.''''  I  have  been  unable  to  find  the 
first  edition  of  this  pamphlet,  but  the  third  was 


11  I 


64 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


published  at  Boston,  in  tho  year  1730.  The  pre- 
face, signed  hy  AV.  Coopei',  is  dated  March  4, 1721)- 
30;  and  in  it  he  says  that  "The  following  Letter 
was  wrote  and  publish'd  more  than  eight  Years 
agoe,  when  the  Town  was  in  great  Distress  by  the 
spreading  of  the  Small  Pox."  He  adds  also  that 
"  Soon  after  the  following  Letter  was  printed  here 
in  Boston,  it  was  reprinted  in  London,  together 
with  the  lleverend  Mr.  Colman's  Account  of  the 
Method  and  Success  of  this  Practice ;  to  which  was 
j)refix'd  an  historical  introduction  by  the  Reverend 
Mr.  Keal." 

The  introduction  of  variolous  inocidation  was  the 
most  important  event  in  the  medical  history  of  the 
province;  and  iu  promoting  it  the  ministers  took 
a  leading  })art.  It  occurred  in  the  summer  of 
1721,  when  there  Avas  not  a  single  practitioner  of 
medicine  in  Boston,  with  the  exception  of  Dr. 
William  Douglass,  who  was  a  regularly  graduated 
physician.  Some  of  the  ministei's  were  the  peers 
of  the  doctors  in  medical  knowledge,  though  with 
less  clinical  experience.  Li  this  state  of  affairs,  it 
can  readily  be  understood  that  it  was  a  fi'ce  light, 
whenever  there  was  a  medical  controversy.  Dr. 
Douglass,  the  leader  of  the  opponents  of  inocula- 
tion, wjis  a  Scotchman  who  came  to  Boston  in  the 
year  1718.  He  received  his  medical  education  in 
Paris  and  Leyden;  was  a  man  of  line  intt^llectual 
parts  and  a  versatile  writer.  He  knew  astron- 
omy and  could  calculate  ('(•lii)ses;  he  had  a  taste 
for  natural  history,  and  was  withal  an  excel- 
lent botanist.     He  studied  his  medical  cases,  and 


..U 


CENTEKNIAL   ADDRESS. 


65 


took  eai't'fiil  notes  by  the  bedside.  Willi  a  lai'gc 
])ractlce,  he  wrote  on  a  great  variety  of  snbjeets, 
and  it  is  not  strange  that  oceasionaliy  lie  was  in- 
exact in  his  statements.  It  was  wittily  said  of  him 
by  some  one  that  he  Avas  always  jiositive  and  some- 
times accurate.  He  had  little  taet,  and  it  is  not 
surprising  that  he  found  himself  continually  in  con- 
troversy. He  died  on  October  21,  1752,  having 
passed  his  whole  i)rofessional  life  in  Boston,  where 
he  had  much  influence  as  a  physician. 

The  credit  of  the  introduction  of  inoculation  into 
this  country  is  generally  given  to  Cotton  Mather, 
Avho  had  read  in  the  Philosophical  Transac- 
tions of  the  Royal  Society  at  London,  that  this 
method  was  used  in  Turke}^  as  a  means  of  jirotec- 
tion  against  small-pox.  During  a  long  time  the 
practice  had  been  ke})t  up  in  Constantinople,  wlierc 
it  was  brought  from  Asia,  and  had  met  with  much 
success.  Dr.  Mather  was  im[)i-essed  with  the  im- 
])ortance  of  the  metliod,  and  tried  to  interest  the 
Boston  doctors  in  the  subject. 

With  one  exception,  however,  they  seemed  to 
be  either  indilFercnt  or  opposed  to  the  whole  matter. 
This  exception  was  Dr.  Zalidiel  Boylston,  Avho 
took  up  the  ])ractice  of  it  ami*'  the  most  violent 
oi)})osition  of  his  professional  brethren;  and  on 
the  2(3th  of  June,  1721,  he  inoculated  his  own  son, 
Thomas,  six  years  of  age,  his  negro  man,  Jack, 
of  thirty-six  years,  and  a  little  negro  boy,  of  two 
and  a  half  years.  ^Fhey  all  had  the  disease  very 
lightly,  and  he  was  encouraged  to  try  the  e.\[n'ri- 
ment  on  others.     In  his  judgment  the  safely  and 


i; 


G6 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


valiio  of  tho  operation  >vei*e  soon  established;  but 
the  medieal  profession  Avei'e  sceptieal,  and  their 
opposition  stron<^  and  bitter.  AVith  Dr.  Douglass 
at  their  head  they  talked  against  it,  and  wrote 
against  it;  and  moreover  they  had  the  newspaper 
])ress  on  their  side.  Opposed  to  them  were  Dr. 
J^oylston  and  the  ministers,  who  at  last  carried  the 
day.  At  one  time  the  public  feeling  was  so  ex- 
cited that  the  advocates  of  the  practice  were  not 
safe  even  in  their  own  houses.  The  town  was 
])atrolled  by  the  rabble  with  halters  in  their  hands, 
threatening  to  hang  Dr.  Jioylston — if  they  could 
Jind  him — to  the  nearest  tree. 

An  attempt  was  made  early  in  the  moi'uing  of 
iS^ovember  14,  1721,  by  means  of  a  "Fired  Gra- 
nado  "  to  destroy  the  house  of  Cotton  Mather,  who 
had  at  the  time  a  kinsnuui  living  with  him,  and 
under  his  charge  for  inoculated  small-pox.  For- 
tunatelv  the  fuse  was  shaken  out  of  the  shell,  and 
no  serious  damai»'e  done.      A  full  account  of  the 


atfair 


IS    given   ui 


r.  rv 


The   Boston   Xews-Letter," 


^vJovember  20,  1721,  which  says  that — 

"  Wlu^ii  tlie  CJniiiiido  Wiis  taki-ii  n|).  tlicru  was  round  a  jiiipor 
so  tied  wiili  ;i  Tliiciid  aiioiit  llic  I-'usc.  that  it  niiniit  outlive  tlio 
hivMkiii;:  or  theSlicll;  wlifrcin  wciv  tlu-se  Words:  COTTON 
MATHER.     I  was  once  one  uf  i/oar  Jlfe.climj ;  Jhtf  Hie   Cur.sed 

Lj/f^  you  lold  of YdU  Luwir  who  ;  made  me  leave  You, 

You  J)o(/,  And  Damn  You,  [will  Enoculala  ijou  willi  this,  wilh 
a  Fox  to  I/O  a." 

Of  the  ]>os(on  neAvsi)ai)ers  "The  H^qw  l']ngland 
C  urant,"'  edited  by  James  Franklin,  was  ])artic- 
ularly  hostile  to  the  new  method.  'Vhv  editor  was 
an  elder  brother  of  lienjamin,  at  thi;;  time  the  em- 
bryonic   philosopher,   avIio   also    worked    on    the 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


67 


paper  botli  as  a  coinpositoi*  aiul  Avritcr.  Within  the 
period  of  one  year  Dr.  lioylstoii  iiioeuhited  247 
persons,  and  of  this  nnnibei'  only  six  died;  and 
dnring*  the  same  time  )]9  other  perscms  in  the 
neigliborhood  were  inoeidated  by  two  otlier  l)liy- 
sieians,  and  all  made  gocxl  reeoveries.  Tliis  low 
rate  of  mortality,  as  eom]»ared  with  that  amon<»' 
persons  who  had  taken  sinall-pox  in  the  natnral 
way,  was  a  telling  argnment  in  favor  of  inoenlation. 
The  an-ay  of  these  statisties  can-ied  the  pnblie  to 
the  side  of  Dr.  Uoylston,  who  was  now  honored  to 
the  same  degree  that  he  had  i)revionsly  been  libelled 
by  a  liekle  popnlaee.  He  was  invited  by  Sir  Hans 
Sloane,  the  Court  Physieian,  to  visit  London, 
wiiere  he  reeeived  the  most  flattering  attentions 
from  the  seientists  of  England,  as  well  as  from 
the  reigning  familv.  He  was  ehosen  r  member  ot 
the  Koyal  Soeiety,  and  read  a  paper  before  that 
learned  body,  on  the  snbjeet  of  small-pox  inocu- 
lation in  Xew  England.  This  was  ]nd)lished  in 
London  in  the  year  172(1,  and  dedicated  by  permis- 
sion to  the  Princess  of  Wales.  Li  this  pam})hlet 
lie  gives  a  mimue  account  of  many  (jf  his  cases, 
telling  the  names  of  his  patients  in  full,  besides 
stating  their  ages;  and  in  the  ])reface  he  a|)()l()gizes 
for  the  liberty  he  has  taken  in  doing  so.  ^V  second 
edition  this  pamphlei  was  published  at  Boston, 
in  the  year  1730.  In  the  course  of  time  inoculation 
conqneivd  all  ojiposition,  and  finally  became  a  well 
established  fact  in  the  connnunity.  Some  of  those 
who  had  bitterly  ojjposed  it  Avcre  now  its  wannest 
friends.     Notably  among  them  was  Dr.  Benjamin 


G8 


CENTEJnsriAL   ADDEESS. 


If 


Franklin;  and  In  tlio  sniall-pox  epidemic  of  ]7;')2, 
even  Dr.  William  Douglass  both  practised  Inocu- 
lation and  s])oke  of  it  as  a  ''most  beneficial  Im- 
])rovement."  In  writing  on  the  subject  he  exi)resses 
himself  "  at  a  loss  for  the  Reasons,  Avhy  Inoculation 
liitherto  is  not  much  used  in  our  Mother  Country, 
Great  Britain;  considering  that  it  has  with  good 
Success  been  practised  in  our  Colonies  or  Planta- 
tions."' During  three  cpuirtcrs  of  a  century  the 
pi'actice  was  continued,  until  it  was  superseded  l.)y 
the  givat  discovery  of  Jenner. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  the  introduction  here 
of  variolous  inoculation  was  hardly  two  months 
after  it  had  been  successfully  tried  in  England, 
though  Dr.  Boylston  and  his  coadjutors  had  no 
knowledge  of  the  fact.  Small-pox  spread  with 
such  fury  and  fatality  during  the  summer  of  1721, 
that  the  Massachusetts  Legislature  passed  a  re- 
solve— ap])licable,  however,  only  to  the  town  of 
Boston — that  no  bell  should  be  t "lied  for  the  burial 
of  persons  who  had  died  of  the  disease,  except 
such  as  the  selectmen  of  the  town  should  dii'eet. 
And,  pursuant  to  this  resolve,  it  was  ordered  Sep- 
tember 21,  1721,  "  That  one  Bell  only  be  made  use 
of  for  a  Funeral  and  that  to  be  Tolled  but  Twice, 
each  Tolling  not  to  exceed  the  space  of  Six 
Minutes."  The  following  clause  also  was  added, 
as  a  snapi)er,  showing  that  the  race  prejudices  of 
a  century  and  a  half  ago  pursued  the  innocent  vic- 
tims even  after  life  had  left  the  body:  "Further 
that  there  be  but  one  Tolling  of  a  Bell  for  the 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


69 


al 

)t 


IX 


Burial  of  any  Indian,  Nepro  oi*  Malatto,  aiul 
that  they  be  carried  the  nearest  way  to  their 
Graves." 

The  next  excitement  in  the  medical  history  of 
Massachusetts    WaS    an   epidemic    that    raged    in 
Boston  and  its  neighborhood,  and  excited  great 
consternation.     This  was  described  at  the  time  by 
])r.  Douglass,  a  close  observer  in  such  cases,  who 
Avrote  a  good  account  of  it.      The  title  of  this 
pamphlet,   which  has  already  been  mentioned  in 
page     8,    is:    "The  Practical  HISTORY  of  A 
~^(i\\  Epidemical  Eruptive  Miliary  Fever,  with  an 
Angina  Ulcusculosa  which  Prevailed  in  Boston 
]^ew  England  in  the  Years   1735   and   1736."— 
(Boston,  1730.)       The  diagnosis  was  rather  ob- 
scure,  and  the  disease  battled   the   skill    of    the 
physicians.     "It  was  vulgarly  called  the  Throat 
Illness,  or  a  Plague  in  the  Throat,  and  alarmed 
the  Provinces  of  N^ew-England  very  much."     Dr. 
Thacher,    in    his    account    of    Douglass    in    the 
"American  Medical  Biography,"  calls  the  disease 
by   the    name    of     angina    maligna,     which    is 
a  generic   term   and   includes   any  inflammatory 
affection  of  the  throat  or  fauces,  such  as  quinsy, 
malignant    sore-throat,    croup,    or    mumps.      It 
has   been   considei'cd   also   to  be  scarlatina;    but 
the  description  leaves    little  doubt  in   my   mind 
that  the  diagnosis  at  the  present  time  would  be 
diphtheria.     Dr.  Douglass's  essay  was  republished 
in  "  The  ^ew-England  Journal  of  Medicine  and 
Surgery"  (Boston,  1825),  with  an  editorial  note 
that  "it  has  been  pronounced  by  competent  judges 

10 


•I 


1  ^' 


tii'( 


I 


70 


CENTETiTNIAL   ADDRESS. 


one  of  the  best  woi'ks  extant  npon  the  sul)ject  of 
whieh  it  treats"  (XIY.  l-lli). 

The  disease  Avas  so  malignant  and  tlie  pnbHc  so 
much  ahirmed,  that  the  town  of  Boston,  in  its  cor- 
porate capacity,  took  action  in  the  matter;  and  the 
following  circular  in  "  The  Boston  AVeekly  News- 
Letter,"  April  29,  173G,  will  explain  itself:— 

THE  Select- Men  of  the  Town  of  Bunion,  in  order  to  inform 
tlie  Tratling  Part  of  our  n('i<Tlil)otiriiig  Colunica,  coiu'i'iiiiiirf  tho 
State  of  the  present pre(;a?7/;/,7  Disfi'mper  in  tliis  Place,  did  di-siro 
a  Meeting  of  as  many  of  the  Prarliliuners  in  Fliijsivk  as  could 
then  be  conveniently  ol)tain'd.  The  Practitioners  lieing  accord- 
ingly met,  did  unanimously  agree  to  the  foUowini;  Arliden  ; 

1.  THAT  upon  the  first  appearance  of  this  Illnet^s  in  Jioslon 
the  Sdect-Men  did  advise  with  the  Pravlitiunerii ;  hut  they  at 
that  Time  having  not  had  Opportunities  of  ohserving  the  Progress 
of  the  Distemper,  it  was  thought  advisable  (initil  further  Kxpcri- 
cnce)  to  shut  up  that  Person  who  was  supjiosed  to  have  received 
it  in  Exeter  to  the  Eastward;  ujjou  his  Death  the  Watch  was  soon 
removed,  but  no  Infection  was  observed  to  spread  or  catch  in  that 
(Quarter  of  the  Town;  therefore  no  Watches  w(M'e  app<jinted  in  the 
other  Parts  of  the  Town  where  it  afterwards  appeared,  the  Practi- 
tioners judging  it  to  proceed  from  some  occult  IJaalilfj  in  the  Air, 
and  not  from  any  observable  Infection  coniniunicatfd  bij  Persons 
or  Goods. 

2.  THE  Practitioners  and  their  Families  have  not  been  seized 
with  this  Distemper  in  a  more  remnrkafde  manner  (and  as  it  has 
happened  not  so  much)  than  rj-.er  Families  in  Town,  even  than 
those  Families  wlio  live  in  solitary  Parts  thcriiof. 

3.  A8  to  the  Mortality  ov  IMalignity  of  this  Distemper,  .all  whom 
it  may  concern  are  referred  to  the  Boston  AVeekly-dournal  of 
Burials:  by  the  lUirials  it  is  notorious,  that  scarce  any  Distemper, 
even  the  most  favourable  which  has  at  any  Time  jii'i^vail'd  so 
generally,  has  produc'd  fewer  Deaths. 

4.  AS  formerly,  so  now  .again  after  many  JMonths  Observation, 
we  conclude.  That  the  present  prevailing  Distemper  appears  to  us  to 
proceed  from  some  Affection  of  tlie  Air,  and  not  from  any  personal 
Infection  received  from  the  Sick,  or  Goods  in  their  nei(jhl)ourhood. 

Natiianikl  Williams 
William  Douglass 
John  Cutlku 
Hugh  Klnxkdy 
W^illiam  Davis 
Thomas  Bulfinch. 


in- 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


71 


^N^jitbanicl  Williams,  whose  name  heads  the  sig- 
natures, was  an  active  and  useful  man  in  his  day 
and  generation.  In  the  affairs  of  life  he  performed 
the  triple  role  of  preacher,  doctor,  and  school- 
master. The  union  of  these  three  characters  was 
no  infrequent  occurrence  in  former  times.  In  each 
he  appears  to  have  phiyed  well  his  part ;  and  his 
career  entitles  him  to  more  than  a  ])assing  notice. 
He  was  the  son  of  Nathaniel  and  Mary  (Oliver) 
Williams,  and  was  born  in  Boston,  August  23, 
1675.  He  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in  the 
class  of  1693,  and  in  the  summer  of  1698  was  or- 
dained,— according  to  the  sermon  preached  at  his 
funeral  by  Thomas  Prince, — ''  an  Evangelist  in  the 
CoUef/e-IIall,  for  one  of  the  West  India  Islands. 
But  the  climate  not  agreeing  with  his  Constitution, 
He  soon  returned  to  this  his  native  CityP  At  one 
time  he  was  engaged  in  giving  private  instruction 
to  boys,  and  he  had  the  reputation  of  ))eing  an  ex- 
cellent classical  scholar.  In  the  year  1703  he  was 
appointed  usher  at  the  Free  Grammar  School,  now 
known  as  the  Boston  Latin  School;  and  subse- 
quently, in  1708,  he  was  chosen  to  the  master- 
ship, which  position  he  held  until  1734.  He 
studied  "  Chipnistrij  and  Pltf/sicl',  under  his  Uncle 
the  Learned  Dr.  James  Oliver  of  Cainbridf/e ;  one 
of  the  most  vstecmed  Physicians  m  his  Day;"  and 
even  while  teaching  continued  to  practise  his  pro- 
fession of  medicine.  He  died  January  10,  1737- 
38;  and  "The  Boston  Weekly  NeAvs-Letter "  of 
January  12  calls  him  "the  Reverend  and  Learned 
Mr.  JSatkanltl  Williaius,^''  and  speaks  ^ ''  him  "  as 


72 


t  r 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


a  very  skilful  aiul  siicct'ssful  Phijslcian;''''  and  says 
that  "  as  his  Life  has  been  very  extensively  ser- 
vieeable,  so  his  Death  is  esteemed  as  a  public 
Loss."  A  posthunions  pamphlet  by  him  has  been 
previously  mentioned  in  page  02  of  this  Address. 

The  career  of  Dr.  "William  Douglass  has  been 
already  noted. 

John  Cutler  was  the  son  of  John  Cutler,  and 
born  August  0,  1070,  at  Ilingham.  The  father 
was  a  "■  chirurgeon,"  and  served  in  King  Philip's 
War.  He  came  originally  from  Holland,  where 
his  name  was  written  Demesmaker.  On  coming 
to  this  country  he  adopted  the  English  translation 
of  his  Dutch  patronymic,  and  called  himself  Cut- 
ler; and  ever  afterward  the  family  was  so  desig- 
nated. His  marriage  is  thus  given  in  the  town- 
records  of  Hingham: — 

"  .foliannes  Demesmaker,  a  Dutchman  (wlio  say  liis  name  in 
English  is  Jolm  Cntlcr)  and  iMary  Cowell  tlie  daugliter  of  Edward 
Cowell  of  IJoston  wtiro  marryed  hy  Captaine  Joshua  llobart  on 
the  fourth  day  of  January  1G74." 

The  births  of  seven  children  are  also  recorded 
in  the  same  records.  I  give  the  entries  of  the  two 
oldest  and  the  two  youngest  of  these  children,  as 
they  show  how  the  distinction  between  the  names 
was  made  at  the  outset,  and  that  it  was  dro])ped 
in  the  course  of  time.  The  oldest  child  was  John, 
who  became  the  physician  and  signed  the  circular 
relating  to  the  epidemic. 

"  Johannes  Demesmaker,  whose  name  in  English  is  John  Cutler, 
the  son  of  Johannes  Demesmaker  a  Dutchman  and  of  Mary  his 
wife  was  born  on  the  sixt  day  of  August  1070." 

"Peter  Demesmaker  (the  son  of  Johannes  Demesmaker  a 
Dutchman  &  of  Mary  his  wife  an  English  woman)  was  born  ou 
the  seventh  day  of  July  1679." 


CENTEXNIAL   ADDIMCSS. 


"  i^avid  C'litlor,  y'"  unii  of  Doctor  .lolui  Ciitlrr  i<:  of  Mary  liis 
vvift;  was  l)orii  t!ic  lii'sl  of   Novfiiilifi'  1  t'lSD." 

"  Hiith  Cutler  tlic  (laiii;lit('r  oC  Doc'tiM'  .loliii  Cutler  &  of  Alary 
his  wife  vvus  born  y''  'Jltii  of  Fehniary  Hill  J." 

The  fatlu'V  rcinovod  to  Boston  Ml)out  the  voar 
]G04,  and  lived  in  MM'll)or()u;j;h  Street,  now  a  pait 
of  Was]iin<>ton  Street,  near  the  Old  South  Meeting- 
house, lie  had  a  lar<i^e  j)i'aetiee,  and  was  the  pre- 
ceptor of  Dr.  Zabdiel  Bovlston,  "vvho  afterward 
beeaine  famous  dui'ini'"  the  time  of  the  small-po\ 
inoeulation.  lie  died  ])robal)ly  in  the  winter  of 
1717,  and  his  son,  John,  Jr.,  inherited  his  i)i'aetiee 
as  well  as  the  homestead.  The  son  mari-ied  the 
widow,  Mrs.  Joanna  (Dodd)  Richards;  and  he 
was  actively  cojinected  with  the  Kin<;"'s  Chapel,  of 
which  church  he  was  a  warden.  He  died  Sei)teml)er 
23,  1701,  having  lived  a  long  lil'e  of  usefulness. 

It  requires  no  great  sti'etch  of  the  imagination 
to  suppose  that  Hugh  Kennedy,  the  fourth  signer 
of  the  circular,  was  a  Scotchman. 

Of  William  Davis,  the  next  signer,  I  can  learn 
almost  nothing.  He  died  probably  i  i  the  winter 
of  1746,  as  the  bond  given  by  the  adininisti'atrix 
of  the  estate  was  dated  March  28,  174().  An  in- 
Ycntory  of  his  property  contained  among  the  items 
"Druggs  [i*]  284:  4:  4;"  "Chirurgical  lustrum'^ 
of  all  Sorts  120;"  '■:]  Glass  Cases  of  Veins  cV: 
Anat:  50."  This  appraisal  was  made  according  to 
the  paper  money  of  New  England,  which  at  that 
time  was  much  de])reciated;  and  it  Avould  be  dilli- 
cult  to  calculate  the  gold  value. 

Thomas  Hul finch,  the  last  signer,  was  the  son  of 
Adiiio  Bullinch,  a  merchant  of  Boston,  who  came 


I      ,1 


74 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


ii 


I) 


! 


to  this  country  from  Kn^^laiul  about  the  year  1(580. 
The  sou  was  l)oru  in  KJiM,  and  hc^au  tiic  study  of 
his  prof'cssiou  with  Dr.  ZalMliel  Jioylston  as  his 
l)roc('|)tor.  He  alU'i-ward  Avcut  to  London  and 
received  instructiou  in  auatoniy  and  surgery  uudcr 
tho  fajnous  (Jlieseldeu,  and  subsequently  to  Paris, 
where  he  couiiilcted  his  i)rolessioual  education. 
On  his  return  to  Boston  he  married  a  dau^^hter  of 
John  Cohuan,  at  that  tiuie  a  i)roniiuent  merchant; 
he  soon  ac([uircd  the  reputation  of  an  excellent 
physician,  and  enjoyed  a  very  lar<>e  |)ractice.  He 
died  Deceml)i'r  2,  17.">7,  leaviu<>"  a  son,  Thomas, 
Jr.,  who  followed  in  the  footsteps  of  his  father  as 
a  successful  practitioner. 

The  Hrst  inoculating  hospitals  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Boston — one  at  Point  Shii'ley  and  the 
other  at  Castle  W^illiam,  now  Fort  Inde])endence 
— were  opened  in  the  winter  of  17G4,  during  an 
epidemic  of  small-pox.  The  Point  Shirley  hospital 
was  established  by  the  Governor  of  the  Province, 
with  the  advice  of  the  Conncil,  and  placed  under 
the  charge  of  several  physicians.  A  notice  in 
"  The  Boston  Post-Boy  &  Advertiser,"  March  19, 
1704:,  sets  foi-th  that — 

"  Those  Pliysiciaiis  of  tlie  Town  of  Bodon  who  are  engaged  in 
carrying  on  thtMiiocnlating  Hospital  at  Point- Shirley,  being  pre- 
vented giving  their  constant,  Atten(hince  tliere  dnring  tiie  con- 
tinnance  of  tlie  Small- I'ux'xw  Town,  lierei)y  notify  the  I'nblie,  tiiat 
they  are  join'd  i)y  Doctor  linrni'li  of  N(iW-JerHe>j,  who  will  con- 
stantly attend  at  said  Hospital  with  one  or  other  of  said  I'hysicians 
whose  Unsiness  will  permit,  and  employ  the  ntinost  Diligence  and 
Attention  for  the  relief  of  those  that  pnt  themselves  nnder  their 
care.  They  further  notify,  that  Puinl- Shirley  contains  as  many 
comfortable  and  decent  Ihuises  as  will  be  sntlicient  to  accommo- 
date as  many  I'ersons  as  will  probably  ever  offer  for  Inoculation 
at  one  Time,  from  this  or  the  neighbouring  Governments    and 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


75 


iir 


is  well  t'liriiislicd  with  (jvcry  riniuinite  ('(invciiiciicc  liotli  for  Sick- 
iii'^.s  and  ilciillii." 

Dr.  AV^illiain  HariR'tt  lived  at  Elizalu'tlitown, 
New  Jersey,  and  had  ae(iuii'ed  eonsiderable  re])ii- 
tation  in  I*iiiladel|)hia  as  a  |)r()m()ter  ol"  varicilous 
iiioeulalion. 

The  Castle  AVilliain  hospital  was  opened — to 
([uote  Iroin  "  The  JJoston  l*ost-Jioy  tt  Advertiser,'' 
Febiiiarv  27,  17()1— 

"  III  Didci'  to  iiil!ir<je  iIk;  ('iiiivciiifiiccs  for  Iiioculiitioii  in  iid- 
ditioii  to  tlioM'  already  |ii'o|insc(l  at  Vn]i\i-Sliiti'  i/,  tliat  uvci'y 
I'ursoii  d<'>iroiis  of  uiidi'ijroiiiif  that  Operation  iiiav  iiavc!  iiii  (Jp- 
])ortiiiiity  of  doing  it.  witliout  endangering  tlie  Spreading  tlio 
l)i>steinper,  and  lliat  litis  'I'own  may  he,  as  soon  as  possible,  frec^l 
from  thi!  api)reliension  of  (lie  Sinall-l'ox ;  the  (iovernor  lias  con- 
aeiitod  that  the  Harracks  of  GnxtU'.-Wilbnm.  shall  ho  improved  for 
tin;  I'urpose  of  Inoculation,  from  this  Time  into  the  iMiddh-  of 
]\lini  next.  And  the  said  l>arraek  are  now  openi'd  to  ALL 
I'llV.SiC  lANS  having  I'atients  to  Inoculate,  inah^r  such  Rules 
us  shall  lie  thought  proper  to  he  made  for  that  purpose. 

"There  are  in  the  liarracks  18  Rooms,  each  of  which  will  con- 
tain ten  Patients  conveniently." 

The  Ibilowing  advertisement  in  the  same  nows- 
j^aper,  of  March  5,  Yli'A,  furnishes  the  principal 
details  of  its  administration: — 

DR.  SAMUEL  GELSTOxX 

Gives  this  Puhliek  Notice  to  his  Patients  in  Boston  and  the  a<l- 
jaceiit  Towns,  that  he  has  prepared  (hy  Peiini>sion  of  his  Excel- 
ioncy  the  (ioveriK)i')  all  coinfortalile  Accoinmoilations  for  them 
at  the  Hurnicks  at  Cantle-Witliuin,  in  order  to  their  being  inocu- 
lated for  the  Small-Pox  under  his  immediate  Care. 

N.  n.  His  Rooms  are  in  that  Part  of  the  IJarracks  where  the 
Patients  of  Dr.  Nathaniel  J'erkins,  Dr.  Whilworth  and  Dr. 
Lloyd's  are  received. 

^^  Dr.  GeUton  and  Dr.  Warren  reside  at  Castle-William 
Day  and  Night. 

ALL  Persons  inclined  to  go  to  the  Barracks  at  Gastle-WUliam 
to  he  inoculated  where  Dr.  Gi;i,st(,)\  resides,  may  apjily  to  Dr. 
Llovd  at  his  House  near  the  King's  Chapel,  who  will  provide 
them  a  Passage  to  the  Castle. 


tl^ 


■  11 


7G 


CENTEXXIAL   ADDRESS. 


:i; 


tfi 


l>r.  (Ji'lston  was  a  idiyslcian  of  Nanliickcl,  and 
had  previously  managed  a  Hiuall-[)()X  liospilal  at 
JSIai'lha's  N'incyard,  wlicru  hv  liad  succi'ssriilly 
inociilalcd  oi^ht y-oiu'  persons.  I'lu'i'c  wcih'  at  this 
tinici  several  private  estahlislnnents  in  the  town 
at  which  inoeulation  was  earried  on. 

It  is  said  that  nniny  came  to  Boston  from  all 
])arts  oC  Hie  Pi'ovinee,  and  IVoin  other  colonies,  to 
be  lieated  in  these  h()S])itaN.  Dui'ing  a  period  of 
live  weeks  after  tluy  were  lirst  o[)ened,  it  is  esti- 
mated that  nioiH!  than  I),C)0()  i)ersons  received  tlic 
disease;  and  not  a  fatal  case  anion<^'  them.  "The 
Boston  Tost-lloy  &  Advertiser,"  April  10,  1704, 
is  my  authority  for  the  statement. 

It  was  during  this  e])ideniic  that  the  library  of 
Harvard  C/ollege  was  burned  on  the  night  of  Jan- 
uary 24,  1701.  Till'  lire  occurred  in  vacation  time, 
and  while  the  building  was  used  by  the  General 
(  'ourt,  which  was  then  sitting  temporarily  in  Cam- 
bridge, on  account  of  the  small-pox  in  Boston. 
Among  the  losses  a  contemporaneous  account 
mentions — 

"  A  Cdlloction  of  the  most  approved  niodical  Authors,  chioHy 
presented  by  Mr.  .Innics,  of  tlio  ishiiid  of  .lamaiea;  to  whieh  I3r. 
iVIead  and  other  (iciitlcmcu  Iiave  made  very  ('oiisi(K'ral)le  aihlitioiis: 
AJso  aiia((iiiiie;d  ciitts  and  two  eonipleat  skeh'tons  of  ditferent 
sexes.  Tliis  Colt  etiou  woidd  liave  been  very  serviceal)lo  to  a 
Professor  of  I'liysie  and  Anatomy,  when  th(!  revenues  of  the 
College  sIiouM  liave  been  sullicient  to  subsist  a  gentleman  in  this 
chai'acter." — ("  The  lioston  I'ost-lioy  &  Advertiser,"  January  30, 
17G4.) 

The  allusion  conttiined  in  the  last  paragraph 
seems  to  indicate  that  the  question  of  a  medical 
pi'ofessorship  in  the  college  had   been  broached 


CENTENNIAL   ADDKKSS. 


77 


bdori)  tills  timo.  Even  in  tho  oarHost  days  of  the 
institution  u  certain  amount  of  instruction  had  been 
given  in  medicine.  Small  tiiough  it  was,  it  is  not 
for  us  to  despise  its  Intluence.  Johnson,  in  his 
" Wonder- AVoriving  Providence"  (London,  1054), 
—  written  about  the  year  1050,  —  describes  the 
College  at  a  period  near  that  time,  and  says  that 
"  s(mieliel|)  hath  been  had  from  hence  in  the  study 
of  rhyslck."— (l»age  lO.!)  It  is  very  likely  that 
Cambridge  was  the  place  where  Giles  Firmin 
taught  aiuitomy,  as  mentioned  in  page  31  of  this 
Address. 

An  inoculating  hospital  was  opened  on  Cat 
Island,  near  Marblchead,  about  the  middle  of 
October,  1773.  It  was  known  as  the  Essex  IIos- 
])ital,  and  had  accommodations  for  eighty  patients. 
It  was  a  private  affaii',  owned  by  proprietors, 
though  it  was  "  approved  l)y  the  Gentlemen  Select- 
Men  of  Salem  and  Marblchead."  An  excellent 
code  of  regulations,  which  were  to  govern  it,  is 
found  in  "  The  Essex  Gazette,"  October  5,  1773. 
It  was  not  destined  to  last  long,  however,  as  it  was 
burned  by  some  ruffians  on  the  night  of  January 
20, 1774.  There,  had  been  a  strong  feeling  against 
the  hospital  on  the  part  of  the  Inhabitants;  and  a 
few  days  before  the  burning,  foiu'  men  suspected 
of  carrying  the  infection  were  tarred  and  feathered, 
and  drummed  out  of  town.  It  was  estimated  that 
there  were  one  thousand  pei'sons  in  the  procession 
escorting  the  victims.  The  mob  marched  to  Salem, 
four  miles  distant,  and  then  paraded  through  the 

U 


n: 


fl^l^lr 


V 


78 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


principal  streets  of  this  town,    A  Sfileni  newspaper 
of  that  time  heartlessly  remarks  that — 

"  the  excjuisitcly  droll  and  grotesfjue  appearance  of  the  four 
tarred  and  feathered  Objects  of  Derision,  exhibited  a  very  laugh- 
able aud  truly  comic  Scene." 

Two  of  the  ringleaders  of  the  mob  which  de- 
stroyed the  hospital  were  arrested  on  February  25, 
and  confined  in  the  jail  at  Salem,  whence  they 
were  rescued  l^y  another  mol?,  and  tal:en  I  ack  to 
Marblehead.  The  popular  Ibeling  was  with  the 
rioters,  and  it  was  found  impossible  to  bring  the 
ruffit  IS  to  justice;  and  so  the  matter  ended. 

As  early  as  March,  17(31,  Dr.  Sy wester  Gardiner 
had  made  a  pro])osition  to  the  town  of  Boston 
to  build  at  his  own  cost  an  inoculating  hospital  on 
a  pie^e  of  land,  northward  from  the  building 
which  he  had  previously  put  np  during  the  French 
war,  for  sick  and  wounded  sailors;  but  it  does 
not  appear  that  the  oft'er  was  accepted.  In  the 
account,  as  printed  in  the  "  Proceedings  of  the 
Massachusetts  Historical  Society,"  for  June,  1859, 
it  is  stated  that — 

''  No  person  in  to-ivn  is  to  pay  more  than  four  dollars  for  inoc- 
ulation, njcdiciues,  and  attendance,  and  three  dollars  per  week  for 
diet,  nursing,  and  lodging,  during  his  or  her  illness." 

It  was  during  the  Revolution  that  dentistry,  a 
kindred  art  to  medicine,  began  to  be  })ractised.  It 
sprang  from  a  humble  beginning,  but  it  has  growi 
to  large  proportions.  With  its  advanced  schools, 
as  a  twin  sister  of  the  medical  jn'ofession  it  chal- 
lenges our  attention  and  respect.  Some  of  its 
teachers,  by  their  thorc  iigh  work  and  patient  in- 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


79 


a 

[t 


vestigatioTis,  have  written  their  names  on  the  roll 
of  science,  and  placed  the  present  generation  un- 
der lasting  obligations.  Many  of  its  number  are 
graduates  of  medicine;  and  I  have  not  forgotten 
the  fact  that  two  of  tlic  principal  founders,  as  well 
as  professors,  of  th^  Harvard  Dental  School,  Dr. 
Nathan  Cooley  Keep  and  Dr.  Thomas  Barnes 
Hitchcock,  who  are  now  no  longer  living,  received 
their  professional  degrees  at  the  Ilai'vard  Medical 
School,  and  both  were  members  of  this  distin- 
guished Society. 

The  following  advertisements,  taken  from  two 
Boston  newspapers,  printed  a  century  ago,  will 
give  an  insight  of  dentistry  at  that  tune : — 

Gentlemen  and  Ladies  that  may  want  Artificial  Tooth,  may 
have  them  made  and  fixed  in  the  noatost  niann(!r,  without  the 
least  pain  by  ISAAC  GIIKENWOOI),  Ivory-Turner,  at  his 
house  in  the  Alain  Street,  between  the  Old  South  and  Seven-Star 
Lane,  at  the  South-End  of  Boston  ;  they  help  the  Speech  as  be- 
coming as  the  natural  ones. 

j^"  Ladies,  wax  rots  your  Teeth  and  Gums,  throio  it  away. 
Come  and  have  your  Teeth  cleansed,  and  if  done  in  time,  saves 
them  from  rotting  and  parting  from  the  Gums. 

N.  B.  Said  GREENWOOD  continues  to  make  Artificial  Leggs 
and  Hands:  Turns  in  Ivory,  Bone,  Silver  and  Wood:.  Makes 
Fifes,  German-Flutes,  Hautboys,  &c.  &c. 


i^ '  Ladies  please  to  send  your  Unibrilloes  to  tie  mended  and 
cover'd — ("The  ('ontincntal  Journal  and  Weekly  Advertiser," 
April  20,  1780.) 

Isaac  Greenwood  was  the  father  of  John  Green- 
wood, a  dentist  of  repute  in  New  York  who  made 
a  set  of  teeth  for  General  Washington  about  the 
time  Stuart  painted  his  portrait.  In  miiuy  of  the 
engravings  of  Washington  it  is  conmion  to  see  a 
fulness  about  the   mouth,   which   is   due   to   the 


u 


r 

W 

'F 

1' 

ik 

!' 

'} 

1  ' 

M> 


80 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


artificial  set.  At  that  period,  false  teetli  were  kept 
in  position  either  by  springs  oi'  clasps;  and  the 
jirinciple  of  holding  them  in  place  by  atmospheric 
pressure  was  not  understood. 

MR.   TEMPLEMAN, 
SuuGKON  Dentist, 

Incouraged  by  the  success  of  his  practice  in  different  parts  of 
Europe  and  America,  liegs  leave  to  acquaint  the  i)ul)lic,  That  he  is 
furnished  with  materials  with  which,  and  a  dexterity  peculiar  to 
the  art, 

lie  preserves  the  Teeth, 

Cures  the  scurvy  in  the  Gums, 

Extracts  and  transplants  Teeth, 

Scales  Teeth, 

Substitutes  artificial  Teeth, 

Gives  the  Teeth  proper  vacancies, 

Regulates  childrens  Teeth, 

And  plumbs  concave  Teeth, 

which  prevents  their  colluting  or  being  offensive,  besides  many 
other  operations  too  tedious  to  mention,  as  without  the  least  pain 
(except  that  of  extracting)  since  scaling  the  Teeth  is  carefully  to 
take  from  them  an  infectious  tartar  which  destroys  the  animal 
[enamel?],  eats  the  gums,  renders  them  spungy  t;lcf,uatki),  and 
incapable  of  affording  any  su[)p()rt.  Its  being  removed,  which  is 
not  in  the  jiower  of  composition  to  effect,  renders  the  gums  firm, 
and  leaves  the  teeth  in  their  natural  purity.  I\Iany  people  blame 
the  climate,  &c.  for  the  loss  of  Teeth, — lint  it  is  too  often  the  case, 
as  I've  observ'd  in  the  course  of  my  practice  on  tiie  Continent, 
that  but  few  people  take  care  of  their  Teeth,  till  they  become  de- 
fective. The  Eurt)peans  are  remarkable  (particularly  the  French) 
for  tlieir  good  and  I)eautiful  Teeth,  owing  to  their  own  care,  and 
knowledge  of  the  art. 

N.  IJ.  Mr.  TEMPLEMAN  will,  with  pleasure,  attend  those 
Ladies  or  Gentlemen  who  cannot  conveniently  wait  on  him  at 
INIrs.  Frazier's,  near  the  Town-House,  Hoston. — ("The  Boston 
Gazette  and  The  Country  Journal,"  October  8,  1781.) 

During  the  generation  immediately  preceding 
the  lievolution,  tlie  science  of  medicine  in  Massa- 
chusetts was  making  progress  by  slow  but  steady 

•ips.     The  bond  of  union  with  the  clerical  pro- 


mm 


mmmm 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


81 


fession,  existing  from  the  earliest  days  of  eolonial 
life,  had  been  eut;  and  there  was  no  longer  any 
praetieal  conneetion  between  the  two  eallings. 
Medicine  had  passed  throngh  the  creeping  stage, 
and  was  now  beginning  to  walk  alone.  It  was  a 
long  stride  in  advance  when  men  began  to  turn 
their  studies  in  one  direction,  and  to  make  a  special- 
ty of  general  practice.  The  opportunities,  how- 
ever, were  few  for  the  successful  prosecution  of  this 
object.  There  Avere  neither  medical  schools  nor 
hospitals;  and  the  young  men  were  obliged  to  j)ur- 
sue  their  studies  under  the  guidance  of  practising 
physicians.  Freciuently  they  were  bound  out,  like 
apprentices,  to  their  instructors,  and  were  com- 
pelled to  do  all  sorts  of  chores  around  the  house 
and  barn,  as  well  as  the  professional  drudgery. 
In  those  days  the  physicians  used  to  buy  their  own 
drugs  and  prepare  their  own  medicines;  and  it  was 
the  province  of  the  students  to  pound  the  bark 
and  spread  the  plasters,  as  well  as  to  mix  the  oint- 
ments and  make  the  pills.  Iii  short  they  Avere  to 
be  useful  to  their  emi)lo3'ers,  as  best  they  might 
in  any  way.  Avhether  in  bleeding  patients,  pulling 
teeth,  or  attending  to  other  cases  of  minor  sur- 
gery. Sometimes  they  boai'ded  with  their  mastei's, 
being  inmates  of  theii'  families;  nd  occasionally 
they  formed  alliances  and  attachments  which  lasti'd 
beyond  the  period  of  their  studies.  Instances 
might  be  "iven  where  the  instructor  Avatched  the 
development  of  a  Hedgling  doctoi-  Avith  all  the  in- 
terest of  a  i'ather-in-laAV.  It  Avas  customary  for 
physicians  in  their  daily  rounds  of  practice  to  be 


1'  .  'i 

I 
It 


I 


82 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


^yi' 


p ' 


^n 


Mt 


accompanied  by  their  scholars,  in  order  to  sliow 
them  the  diflereiit  forms  of  disease,  and  to  teach 
them  the  rules  of  diagnosis.  On  tlieir  return  liome 
the  young  men  woidd  sometimes  undergo  a  form 
of  questioning,  which  was  considered  an  examina- 
tion. In  this  way,  with  a  certain  amount  of  med- 
ical reading,  the  main  supply  of  doctors  was  kept 
up.  The  few  exceptions  were  persons  who  went 
abroad  to  study,  where  of  course  they  had  the 
best  o]:)portunities  that  science  could  then  give. 
On  coming  back  to  their  native  bind,  such  students 
brought  with  them  the  freshest  ideas  and  the 
Litest  expression  of  medicine,  which  they  were 
not  slow  to  impart  to  others.  Aside  from  these 
advantages  they  returned  with  a  diploma  and  had 
the  right  to  afHx  M.D.  to  their  names,  an  honor 
beyond  the  reach  of  those  who  had  remained,  at 
home. 

Among  the  ])hysicians  of  this  period  who  had 
not  the  benefit  of  a  foreign  education,  but  who  ac- 
quired a  high  professional  skill  and  a  wide  local 
reputation, — and  who  withal  we)*e  early  members 
of  this  Society, — may  be  mentioned: — 

Samuel  Adams,  of  Boston;  Israel  Atherton,  of 
Lancaster;  Joshua  Bai'ker,  of  Hingham;  Timothy 
Childs,  of  Pittsfield;  John  Cuming,  of  Concord; 
John  Flagg,  of  Lynn;  JS^athaniel  Freeman,  of 
Sandwich;  Lemuel  Ilayward,  of  Boston;  Samuel 
liolten,  of  Danvers;  Ebenezer  Hunt,  of  North- 
ampton; Thomas  Ivittredge,  of  Andover;  Oliver 
Prescott,  of  Groton;  Xathaniel  Saltonstall,  of 
Haverhill;      Micajuh   Sawyer,  of    Newburyport; 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


83 


Marshall  Spring',  of  Watertown;  John  "Barnard 
Swett,  of  Marblehcad;  the  brothers  Simon  and 
Cotton  Tufts,  of  Medford,  and  AVeymoiith,  i-e- 
spectively. 

These  were  all  marked  men  in  their  day  and 
generation.  They  were  in  aetive  practiee  one  hun- 
dred years  ago,  and  at  that  time  were  sustaining 
a  part  in  the  daily  affairs  of  New  England  life, 
which  was  not  surpassed  in  responsibility  and 
usefulness  by  that  of  the  same  number  of  i)ersons 
in  any  walk  or  profession.  They  were  in  every 
sense  of  the  word  general  practitionei's,  as  spe- 
cialties in  medicine  were  then  unknown.  Most  of 
them  lived  at  some  distance  from  other  physicians, 
and  in  cases  of  emergency  they  Avere  obliged  to 
rely  on  themselves  alone.  This  experience  made 
them  symmetrical  men;  they  were  developed  in 
all  branches  of  medicine  and  on  all  sides  of  prac- 
tical questions,  as  far  as  science  had  then  gone. 

The  physicians  of  this  period  who  had  studied 
their  profession  in  Europe  were  few  in  number. 
Notably  among  them  were  Charles  Jai-vis,  John 
JefiVies,  and  James  Lloyd,  all  of  Boston,  and  mem- 
bers of  this  Society.  Jarvis  was  a  Boston  Latin 
School  boy,  and  a  gi-aduate  of  Harvard  College  in  the 
class  of  17(3(3.  After  linishing  his  medical  studies 
in  Boston,  he  went  to  England,  and  took  practical 
courses  in  medicine  and  surgery.  On  his  return 
he  established  himself  in  Boston,  where  he  enjoyed 
a  large  and  successful  practice.  Dr.  Jarvis  gave 
but  little  medicine,  and  to-day  would  be  considered 
a  good  representative  of  the  "  expectant  school " 


ill 
'1'; 


'i 

I 


84 


CENTENXIAI.  ADDRESS. 


*    '   .'■ 


1  I 


i  mP 


\  111 

'  HP 


of  tlic  ])rofossion.  IIo  took  a  proiniiiont  part  in 
public  ulVairs,  and  was  a  "^  JuU'ersonian"  in  politics. 
lie  died  November  15,  1807,  aged  fit'ty-niiie  years. 

Jolin  Jetiries  was  the  son  of  David  Jeflt'ries,  for 
thirty-one  years  the  town  treasurer  of  Boston. 
The  son  graduated  at  Ilarvai'd  College  in  the  year 
1759,  with  the  higliest  honors  of  his  class,  and  be- 
gan at  once  his  medical  studies  under  Dr.  Lloyd. 
Subsequently  he  studied  in  England,  and  took  his 
degree  of  M.D.  at  the  University  of  Aberdeen  in 
Scotland.  During  the  Revolution  he  served  on  the 
liritish  side,  and  it  was  not  until  the  year  1790  that 
he  returned  to  his  native  toAvn  to  practise  his  pro- 
fession. He  died  September  1(3,  1819,  deeply 
lamented  by  his  friends. 

James  Lloyd  was  a  native  of  Oyster  Bay,  Long 
Island,  where  he  was  born  March  14,  1728.  He 
began  his  professional  studies  in  Boston,  under 
the  guidance  of  Dr.  William  Clark,  with  whom  he 
remained  nearly  five  years.  At  the  end  of  this 
time  he  went  to  England,  where  he  enjoyed  the 
most  favorable  opportunities  of  seeing  the  practice 
of  the  best  physicians  and  surgeons  of  that  time. 
He  came  back  to  Boston  in  the  year  1752,  and  at 
once  entered  u])on  the;  duties  of  his  chosen  pro- 
fession, in  wdiich  he  soon  became  eminent.  He 
has  the  n.'ime  of  being  the  first  educated  obstet- 
rician in  the  country,  as  well  as  the  credit  of  in- 
troducing the  practice  of  amputation  by  the  flap 
operation,  or  double  incision,  as  it  was  then  called. 
Dr.  Lloyd  was  a  man  of  many  accomplishments, 
and  durini*:  the  last  half  of  the  last  century  the 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


85 


ip 
d. 

lie 


prominent  fi;^iii'c  of  tlio  pi'ofessioii.    lie  died  March 
14,  1810,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-two  years. 

Dr.  Lloyd  had  studied  niidwii'eiy  under  the  dis- 
tinguished Snielhe,  of  London;  and  after  his  return 
home  he  was  considered  througliout  the  province 
the  best  authority  in  this  branch  of  medicine. 
Before  this  period  midwifery  had  been  practised 
ahnost  exclusively  by  women,  and  physicians  were 
summoned  only  in  diflicult  cases.  At  the  time  of 
the  incorporation  of  this  Society,  the  practice  of 
obstetrics  among  physicians  had  become  quite 
general  in  the  larger  towns  of  the  State. 

The  following  advertisement,  in  "  The  Boston 
Evening  Post  and  The  General  Advertisei*,"  No- 
vember 10, 1781,  announces  that  after  that  date  the 
terms  of  the  13o8ton  doctors  would  be — to  use  a 
current  expression  of  the  shop — cash  on  delivery : — 

Tllf:  PIIYvSICIANS 
of  the  Town  of  BOSTON, 

HEREiiY  inform  the  Public,  that,  in  Consideration  of  the  great 
Fatigue  and  inevitable  Injury  to  tlio  Constitution,  in  the 
Practice  of  MIDWlFEliY^,  as  well  as  tlie  necessary  Interruption 
of  the  otlier  Branches  of  their  Profession,  they  shall,  for  the  future, 
expect,  that  in  Calls  of  this  Kind,  the  FJ^Ii^  bo  immediately  dis- 
charged. 

BOSTON,  Nov.  G,  1781. 

A  work  on  Obstetrics — probably  the  first  one 
pi'inted  in  the  coinitry — was  published  at  Boston 
in  the  year  1786.  It  was  profusely  illustrated  with 
engravings ;  and  the  title-page  reads  as  follows : — 

"An  Abridgement  of  the  Practice  of  Midwifery:  and  a  set  of 

Anatomical  Tables  with  explanations.     Collected  from  the  AV^orks 

of  the  Celebrated  W.  Sniellie,  M.D.     A  new   Edition.      Boston: 

Printed  &  sold  by  J.  Norman  at  his  office  near  th(3  Boston-Stone." 

12 


80 


CEXTEXXIAL   ADDRESR. 


n. 

Thus  far  in  these  pages  I  have  tried  to  sketcli 
tlie  rise  and  progress  of  medicine  in  Massaeluisetts 
during  the  colonial  and  provincial  ])criods;  and 
this  imperfect  outline  of  its  history  may  give  some 
idea  of  the  antecedents  and  traditions  of  the  Med- 
ical Society.  The  corner-stone  was  laid  on  such 
a  ground- work;  the  structure  Avas  built  on  such  a 
foundation.  It  was  so  planned  that  additions  and 
changes  might  be  made  to  meet  the  wants  of  ad- 
vancing time,  and  not  weaken  the  unity  or  sym- 
metry of  the  whole.  The  workmen  were  earnest 
and  honest,  and  the  residt  proves  their  faithful 
labor.  They  have  erected  an  edifice  wliich  has 
stood  the  test  of  a  century,  and  seemingly  bids  fair 
to  last  for  ages  to  come. 

I  now  purpose  to  trace  in  some  detail  the  de- 
veh)pment  of  the  Society  from  its  beginning  one 
hundred  years  ago,  to  the  present  time. 

Civil  commotion  stirs  up  thought  and  quickens 
mental  activity.  When  the  first  steps  were  taken 
to  establish  this  Society,  the  surrender  of  York- 
town  had  not  occurred,  and  it  was  a  matter  of 
grave  doubt  when  the  lievolution  would  come  to  an 
end;  but  a  six  years'  war  had  drilled  the  i)opular 
mind  in  great  things.  The  uncertainty  of  public 
ail'airs  tended  rather  to  excite  eit'ort  than  to  re[)ress 
it.     In  such  a  time  and  under  such  conditions  the 


^'1 


CENTEKNIAL   ADDRESS. 


87 


Miissacliusc'lts  Modieal  Society  was  org-anizcd.  It 
was  no  small  airair  to  bring  togetliei- from  all  parts 
of  tlie  Connnonwoalth  the  representatives  of  the 
medical  profession,  and  to  liarmonize  their  conflict- 
ing views.  Berkshire  connty  was  two  days  dis- 
tant fi-om  Boston,  and  relatively  as  flu-  off  as 
Chicago  and  St.  Lonis  are  to-day;  while  that  large 
northeast  territoiy,  called  the  District  of  Maine, 
was  as  little  known  as  the  farthest  northwest  region 
is  known  to  ns  now.  Between  the  different  sec- 
tions of  the  State  there  were  then  small  conveni- 
ences for  general  travel,  and  few  postal  facilities, 
by  means  of  which  an  interchange  of  visits  and 
ideas,  so  condncive  to  unification  of  action,  could  be 
brought  about.  The  formation  of  this  Society  at 
once  mcreased  ]jrofessional  intercourse,  m  spite 
of  these  difliculties,  and  accomplished  excellent 
results. 

^  The  Act  of  Incorporation,  under  which  this 
Society  first  met  one  hundred  years  ago,  is  found 
in  the  first  volume  of  its  "  Comnumications  "  (pages 
viii-xi),  and  is  as  follows:  — 

COMMONWEALTH    of  MASSACHUSETTS. 
In  the  Year  of  our  Lord,  1781. 

An  ACT  to  incori)orate  certain  Physicians, 
by  the  JS^ame  of  The  Massachusetts  Medical 
Society. 

As  health  is  cssentialh/  necessary  to  (he  happiness  of  society  ; 
and  as  its  preservation  or  recovery  is  closely  connected  with  the 
knmvledye  of  iJie  animal  economy,  and  of  the  properties  and 
ejects  of  medicines ;  and  as  the  benejil  of  medical  institutions, 


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88 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


formed  on  liberal  principles,  and  encouraged  by  the  patronage 
of  the  law,  is  iinive.rsalbj  acknowledged : 

lie  it  therefore  enacted  tig  the  Senate  and  House  of  Ilepre- 
sentatives  in  General  Court  assembled,  and  by  the  authorilg  of 
the  same,  That,  Nathaniel  ]Valker  Appleton,  William  Baylies, 
Benjamin  Curtis,  Samuel  Danforth,  Aaron  Dexter,  Shirley 
Erving,  John  Frink,  Joseph  Gardner,  Samuel  ITollcn,  Edward 
Augustus  Holyoke,  Ebenezer  Jfunt,  Charles  Jarvis,  Ihonias 
Kast,  Giles  Crouch  Kellogg,  John  Lynn,  Ja^nes  Lloyd,  Joseph 
Orne,  James  Pecker,  Oliver  Prescott,  Charles  Pynchon,  Isaac 
Hand,  Isaac  Band,  jun.  Micaijah  Sawyer,  John  Sprague, 
Charles  Slockbridge,  Juhn  Barnard  Swelt,  Cotton.  Tufts,  John 
Warren,  Thomas  Welsh,  Joseph  Whipple,  William  Whiling,  be, 
and  they  hereby  are  formed  hito,  eniistituted  and  made  a  body 
politic  and  corporate,  by  tlie  name  of  The  Massachusetts  Medical 
Society  ;  and  that  tlusy  and  thc^ir  successors,  and  such  other  per- 
sons as  shall  be  elected  in  the  manner  hereafter  mentioned,  shall  bo 
and  continue  a  body  politic  and  corj)orate  by  the  same  name  forever. 

And  be  it  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid.  That  the  fellows 
of  said  society  may  from  time  to  time  ehM^t  a  president,  vice  presi- 
dent and  secretary,  with  other  ollieers  as  they  shall  jndge  neces- 
sary and  convenient;  and  tluiy  the  fellows  of  said  society,  sliall 
have  full  power  and  authority,  from  time  to  time,  to  determine  and 
establish  the  names,  number  and  duty  of  t)\eir  several  ollicers,  and 
the  tenure  or  estate  they  shall  respectively  have  in  their  otlices; 
and  also  to  authorize  and  empower  their  president  or  some  other 
ofHcer  to  administer  such  oaths  to  such  ollieers  as  they,  the  fellows 
of  said  society,  shall  appoint  and  determine  lor  the  well  ordering 
and  good  goverimient  of  said  society,  provided  the  same  be  not 
repugnant  to  the  laws  of  this  commonwealth. 

And  be  it  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid.  That  the  fellows 
of  said  society  shall  have  one  common  seal,  and  power  to  break, 
change  and  renew  the  same  at  their  pleasure. 

And  be  it  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  That  they,  the 
fellows  of  said  society,  may  sue  and  be  sued  in  all  acLions,  real, 
personal  or  mixed,  and  prosecute  and  defend  the  sani(!  unto  final 
judgment  and  execution,  by  the  name  of  The  Massachusetts 
Medical  Society. 

And  be  it  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  That  the  fellows 
of  said  society  may  from  time  to  time  elect  such  persons  to  bo 
fellows  thereof,  as  they  shall  judge  proper;  and  that  they,  the 
fellows  of  said  society,  shall  havi'  power  to  suspend,  expel  or 
disfranchise  any  fellows  of  said  society. 

And  be  it  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid.  That  the  fellows 
of  said  society  shall  have  full  jtower  and  authority  to  make  and 
enact  such  rules  and  bye  laws  for  the  better  government  of  said 


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CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


89 


society,  as  aro  not  rcpii^^imnt  \i>  Uw  laws  of  this  rommoiiwciiUli; 
niid  to  annex  rcasoiKiMc  lini's  and  iicnaltics  to  tin;  Itrcadi  of  tlicni, 
Hot  cxcccdin;!  llw  sum  of  hrt'nlij  pounds,  to  \n'.  mkmI  for  and  fc- 
covcrt'd  liy  said  society,  and  to  tlieir  (»\vn  iisci,  in  any  court  of 
rooord  witliin  tins  ('omnionwealtli  proper  to  try  tin;  same;  and 
also  to  estulilisli  tin'  time  and  manner  of  convening  the  fellows  of 
said  society;  and  also  to  determine!  the  nnndier  of  fellows  that, 
shall  he  prcsscnt  to  constitute  a  meeting;  of  said  society;  and  alx), 
that  tiio  nuniher  of  said  socaety,  who  are  inhai)itants  of  this  eom- 
11  'iiweiilth,  shall  not  at  any  one  time  lie  mort;  than  se\-eiity,  nor 
le.^s  than  ten;  ;tiid  that  their  meelinu^  shall  he  held  in  the  town  of 
JjuhI(jii,  oi'  sncli  other  place  witiiin  this  coininonwealtii,  an  a 
majority  of  tht;  nn^miiers  pi'esenl  in  a  leifal  meeting,  shall  jndgu 
most  tit  and  (;onveni(Mit. 

And  whereas  it  in  clearhjof  importance,  that  a  jiis^t  discrimi- 
tialion  tihuuld  he  made  lielween  fiiich  as  are  dubj  eduvn/ed  (lud. 
pruperhj  (jtiatijied  for  tlie  dtitien  of  their  projesaioii,  and  tlivse 
xvho  viaij  ignorantiij  and  luickedlij  administer  Medicine,  wherehij 
the  health  and  lives  of  inani/  valua/de  indiriduals  may  be 
endangered,  or  perhaps  lost  to  the  commtarili/  : 

J]e  it  therefore  enacted  bij  tin-  authurili/  aforesaid,  That  the 
president  and  fellows  of  said  society,  or  other  such  )f  their  ollicers 
or  fellows  as  they  shall  appoint,  shall  have  full  powe-  and  anthoiity 
to  examine  all  candidates  for  the  jjractice  of  physic  and  surgery, 
(whf)  shall  olfer  thi^msehes  for  (sxaminalion.  respecting  their  skill 
in  their  profession)  and  if  upon  such  examination,  the  said  (;andi- 
dates  shall  he  found  skilled  in  their  profession,  .and  fitted  for  the 
])ractise  of  it,  they  shall  receive  the  approhation  of  the  society  in 
letters  testimonial  of  sncli  examination,  under  the  seal  of  the  said 
society,  signed  iiy  the  president,  or  sin:h  other  jjersou  or  persons 
as  shall  be  appointed  I'm-  that  purpose. 

And  be  it  farther  enacted  bij  the  autliority  aforesaid,  That  if 
the  said  president,  and  such  other  person  or  jjcrsons,  so  elected 
and  appointi^d  for  the  purpose  of  exanuidng  candiilatcs  as  afore- 
said, shall  olistinately  refusi^  to  examine  any  (candidate  so  olVering 
himself  for  exanuiialion  as  aforc'said.  <'ach  and  every  such  jjcrsou  so 
electc'd  and  appointed  as  aforesaid,  shall  Ik;  suhjc<'t  to  a.  line  of  one 
liundred  pounds,  to  ho  recovered  by  the  said  candidate,  and  to  his 
r)wn  use,  in  any  court  within  this  ccnnnninwealth  proper  to  try  the 
same. 

And  be  it  further  enacted  by  die  authority  aforesaid,  That  the 
fellows  of  said  society  may,  and  >hall  forever  I)e  deenn/d  capabh; 
in  law.  of  having,  holding  and  taking  in  fee  simi)le  or  any  less  estati; 
by  gift,  grant  or  devise  or  otherwise,  any  land,  tenement  or  other 
estate,  rc^al  or  j)ersonal ;  piovidt'd  that  the  amnial  income  of  the 
whole  real  estate  that  may  be  given,  granted  or  devised  to,  or  jair- 


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CENTENNIAL  ADDRESS. 


di;i-t(l  by  flic  said  society,  sliall  not  exceed  the  sum  of  (wo  hundred 
puuivlA,  iiiiil  tlie  .'inmiiil  itiooiuo  or  interest  of  said  personal  estate, 
«liail  not  exceed  the  sum  of  six  hundred  pounds;  all  the  sums 
mt-ntioiied  in  this  act  to  be  valued  in  silver  at  six  shillings  and 
eiijhf  pence  per  uuiice :  and  the  annual  income  or  interest  of  the 
»!iid  real  and  personal  estate,  together  with  the  fines  and  penalties 
paid  to  saitl  society,  or  recovered  by  them,  shall  be  appropriated 
to  such  pnr|)ose8  us  are  consistent  with  the  end  and  design  of  the 
institution  of  said  society,  and  as  the  fellows  thereof  shall  de- 
termint*. 

And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  the  first  meeting  of  the  said 
Medical  .So(;iety  shall  be  held  in  some  conv«'nient  place  in  the  town 
of  Boston  ;  and  that  Edward  Augustus  Hvhjoke,  Esq;  be,  and  ho 
hereby  is  authorised  and  directed  to  fix  the  time  for  holding  the 
said  meeting,  and  to  notify  the  same  to  the  fellows  of  said  Medical 
.Society. 

I't  tlu^  House  of  IIkimsesextatives,  October  30,  1781. 

This  bill  liaving  had  three  several  readings,  passed  to  be 
enacted. 

NATHANIEL  GORIIAM,  Speaker. 

In  Senate,  November  1,  1781. 
This  bill  having  had  two  several  readings,  passed  to  be  enacted. 

SAMUEL  ADAMS,  President. 

JOHN  HANCOCK. 

.\  true  copy. 


Approved, 
Attest,  JOHN  AVEIlY,JHn.  Secretary. 


Tn  accordance  with  the  last  clause  of  this  Act, 
Dr.  Ilolyoke  |)ii})lishcd  a  notice  in  "  The  Boston 
(iazctte  and  The  Country  Journal,"  November  12, 
17h1,  calling'  a  meeting  ol'  the  members  whose 
names  are  mentioned  in  the  charter.  It  was  called 
"at  the  County  Court-llouse,  in  Boston, on  AVcd- 
nesday  the  28th  ])ay  of  this  Instant  N^ovember,  at 
T(  n  (/Clock,  A.  M.  for  the  Purpose  of  chusing 
Ollicers  of  the  Society,  and  transtieting  any  other 
Matter  (which  by  this  Act  they  are  empowered  to 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


91 


do)  as  they  shall  think  proper."  The  charter  mem- 
bers were  thirty-one  in  niuuber  and  represented 
different  sections  of  the  State :  fourteen  of  them 
lived  m  Boston;  two  in  ^N^ewburyport;  two  in 
Salem;  and  one  in  each  of  the  followinf^  towns : — 
Cambridge,  Danvers,  Dedham,  Dighton,  Great 
Barrington,  Groton,  Iladley,  Northampton,  Port- 
land, liiithmd,  Scituate,  Springtield,  and  AV^ey- 
mouth.  By  counties,  as  constituted  at  that  time, 
Suffolk  had  sixteen  members;  Essex  had  five; 
Hampshire,  three;  Middlesex,  two;  Berkshire, 
Bristol,  Plymouth,  Worcester,  and  Cumberland,  in 
the  District  of  Maine,  one  each.* 

The  first  meeting  of  the  coi'poration  was  duly 
held  in  the  County  court-house,  on  November  28 
1781,  at  which  time  there  were  present  nineteen 
of  the  thirty-one  persons  whose  uames  are  given  in 
the  Act  of  Incorporation.  The  court-house  of  that 
period  stood  on  the  site  of  the  present  one  in  Coiu't 
Street.  The  first  vote  passed  was  that  the  ollicers 
at  this  meeting  should  be  chosen  yro  tempore; 
and  subsequently  "Edward  Augustus  Ilolyoke 
Esq:"  was  elected  president,  "Doct!"  Isaac  Hand 
junr"  seci'etary,  and  "  Doctf  Thomas  AVelsh,"  treas- 


1  A  curious  iucidcut  liappened  in  counccHon  with  the  foniiiitiou  of  thu 
Mt'dical  Society.  The  uiiiiu'  of  John  Spnijjnt'  iippi/iirs  anion;,'  tliosc  men- 
tioned in  the  Aet  of  Incorporation  ;  and  aeeordinnly  Dr.  .lohn  Spraf,'ue,  of 
Uedhani,  was  present  at  the  early  iiieetiii;;s  and  took  part  in  the  proceed- 
infjs.  This  continued  until  July  18,  17S'2,  when  Dr.  John  Sprajjuo,  of 
Newlniryport,  was  chosen  n  member.  At  the  nieetiiii;  of  the  Coiincillors, 
held  October  1,  1782,  a  reply  to  the  notification  of  his  election  was  read, 
wherein  he  stated  that  he  was  the  senior  physician  of  the  name  in  tlie 
State,  and  that  he  considered  himself  already  a  member  by  the  charter. 
Dr.  Spra;,'ue,  of  Dedhani,  who  was  present  at  the  tiiiU',  (piietly  resii;iu(l  his 
supjiosed  membership ;  but  ho  was  chosen  ajjain  u  member  ut  the  same 
niectiuir. 


92 


CENTENNIAL    ADDRESS. 


urcr.  The  rocoi'ds  follow  the  preeetlent  of  the 
Act  in  withholding  the  medical  title  from  Dr. 
Holyoke's  name.  Perhaps  it  was  because  Dr. 
Holyokc  held  a  commission  as  Justice  of  the 
Peace ;  and  the  title  of  Esquire  at  that  time  carried 
a  great  deal  of  dignity  with  it. 

The  second  meeting  was  held  in  the  court-house, 
on  April  17,  1782,  and  Dr.  Samuel  Ilolten  chosen 
president  p^'o  tempore.  A  committee,  consisting  of 
Drs.  Tufts,  Warren,  and  Appleton,  was  appointed 
to  consider  the  form  of  letters  testimonial  to  be 
given  to  those  candidates  who  were  approved  by 
the  censors  of  the  Society ;  and  to  invent  a  device 
and  motto  for  a  seal.  This  was  an  important 
committee,  and  they  appear  to  have  reported  at  the 
next  meeting, — though  I  do  not  find  any  record  of 
the  details, — when  they  asked  for  further  time  in 
regard  to  the  seal.  One  of  the  prime  objects  of 
the  Society  was  to  draw  a  line  between  the  intel- 
ligent and  the  ignorant  practitioners  of  medicine; 
and  it  was  the  function  of  this  committee  to  devise 
some  method  to  reach  that  end.  Even  the  matter 
of  the  seal  was  considered  sufficiently  important 
to  be  mentioned  in  a  separate  clause  of  the  original 
Act. 

The  third  meeting  was  held  on  June  5,  1782, 
and  Dr.  James  Lloyd  chosen  president  ^^ pro  Jiac 
vice."  At  this  meeting  permanent  officers  were 
elected  for  the  ensuing  year;  and  as  the  jiioneers 
of  a  long  line  of  eminent  physicians  who  have  held 
office  in  this  disthiguishcd  organization,  I  give  the 
names  of  all,  as  taken  from  the  records: — 


CENTENNIAL  ADDRESS. 


93 


Edward  Augustus  Holyoke  Esq.  President 
Doct'  James  Pecker  Vice  President 

Docf.  Samuel  Danforth 

Doctf  Joseph  Gardner 

Hon:  Sam.  Holten  Esq. 

James  Lloyd  Esq.  >■       Counsellors 

Doctf  Isaac  Rand  junf 

Doctf  John  Sprague 

Hon:  Cotton  Tufts  Esq 

Doctr  John-Barnard  Swett       Corresponding  Seer? 
Doctf  Nath.-Walker  Appleton  Recording  Secr^ 
Doct.'.  Thomas  Welsh  Treasurer 

Doctr  Aaron  Dexter     Vice  Treasurer  &  Librarii.a 

Docf.  Sam'  Danforth 

Doct'.  Charles  Jarvis 

Docf.  Joseph  Orne  V       Censors 

Hon :  Cotton  Tufts  Esq. 

Docf.  John  Warren 

At  this  meeting  it  was  voted 

"  That  a  Coniittee  be  appointed  to  publish  a  List  of  the  Officers 
this  day  elected,  to  announce  to  the  Public  that  the  Massachusetts 
JVIediail  Society  is  organized,  also  to  invite  the  Correspondence  of 
the  Faculty  and  others  as  they  shall  think  proper." 

By  the  Act  of  Incorporation,  Dr.  Holyoke  was 
empowered  to  name  the  time  and  place  for  holding 
the  first  meeting  of  the  Society;  and  it  was  a  fit- 
ting snpplement  to  the  previous  arrangements  that 
he  should  be  chosen  its  first  president.  He  is  so 
well  known  by  reputation,  that  it  seems  needless 
to  give  many  details  about  him.  Born  in  Salem, 
August  1,  1728,  he  graduated  at  Harvard  College 
in  the  class  of  1746,  and  began  the  study  of  med- 
icine under  the  guidance  of  Dr.  Thomas  Beriy,  of 
Ipswich.  After  its  completion  he  entered  upon 
the  practice  in  his  native  town,  where  he  met  with 
great  success.     At  the  time  of  his  election,  he  had 

just  passed  what  is  called  the  middle  age  of  life,  and 
13 


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94 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


il 


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was  engaged  in  a  large  and  increasing  Inisiness. 
Eminent  as  a  surgeon,  he  was  widely  known  not 
only  in  this  province,  but  in  Maine  and  New  Hamp- 
shire, and  was  occupying  a  social  and  professional 
position  that  rarely  falls  to  the  lot  of  any  man. 

Dr.  Ilolyoke  continued  to  practise  medicine  in 
Salem  for  seventy-nine  years;  and  it  was  said  of 
him  that  there  was  not  a  dwelling-house  in  the 
town  at  which  he  had  not  visited  professionally. 
During  a  long  life  he  enjoyed  almost  uninter- 
rupted health,  which  may  be  ascribed  in  part  to 
his  cheerful  disjiosition  and  his  continued  exercise 
out-of-doors.  He  died  March  31,  1829,  having 
reached  the  advanced  age  of  more  than  one  hun- 
dred years.  On  the  centennial  anniversary  of  his 
birth,  about  fifty  physicians  of  Boston  and  Salem 
gave  him  a  public  dinner,  at  which  he  appeared  in 
remarkable  spirits  and  vigor.  He  smoked  his  pipe 
at  the  table,  and  gave  an  appropriate  toast  to  the 
Medical  Society  and  its  members. 

It  sometimes  happens  that  a  great  discovery  is 
nearly  made,  but  the  final  step  is  not  taken  to  ac- 
complish it.  Often  there  is  a  faint  glimmer  of  a 
new  truth,  but  yet  not  clear  enough  for  distinct 
assertion.  Such  was  the  experience  of  Dr.  Ilo- 
lyoke who  almost  anticipated  the  great  discovery 
of  Laennec.  The  following  report  of  a  case  made 
by  him  was  printed  in  the  year  1793,  though  it  was 
written  probably  long  before  that  time: — 

"  A  man  about  fifty-three  or  fifty-four  years  old,  of  a  thin  habit 
of  body,  lal)0uring  under  a  very  bad  eough,  attended  witli  a  liec- 
tick  fever,  profuse  sweats,  &c.  had  ahirge  tumour  formed  upon  tiie 
upper  part  of  the  thorax  on  the  left  side,  extending  from  the 


CENTENNIAL  ADDRESS. 


95 


shmildor  all  along  the  lower  crlgo  of  tlie  clavicle,  to  the  sternum, 
about  the  breadth  ol"  u  man's  huml.  This  tumour  had  all  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  large  abscess;  it  was  accordingly  treated  as  8''"h, 
and  suppuration  seeuierl  to  be  coming  on  as  usual ;  but  on  removing 
the  dressings  one  day,  I  found  the  tumour  (though  the  skin  re- 
mained whole)  less  i)rominent  to  the  eye,  flabby  to  the  touch,  and 
the  pain  and  inflammation  abated.  I  was  now  at  a  loss  what  to 
make  of  the  case,  as  the  abscess  seemed  too  far  advanced  to  expect 
discussion.  While  I  was  thinking  of  the  matter,  the  patient  asked 
me  '  what  could  occasion  that  blubbering  noise  (as  he  expressed 
liimself)  in  the  sore.'  Upon  which,  ai)plying  my  ear  near  the 
]iart  where  he  perceived  the  noise,  I  plainly  heard  a  whizzing,  and 
as  he  termed  it,  a  blubbering  noise  at  every  breat!i,  exactly  re- 
sembling such  as  arises  from  the  rushing  of  air  through  a  small 
orifice.  This  oritice  appeared  to  be  just  under  the  left  clavicle, 
but  nearer  to  the  shoulder  than  the  sternum.  Upon  viewing  the 
jiart  attentively,  a  small  dilation  and  contraction  was  perceptible 
upon  expiration  and  insi)iration ;  and  the  part  was  evidently  puffy 
and  flatulent  to  the  touch.  At  this  time  the  cough  was  urgent, 
and  the  expectoration  very  copious. 

From  this  time,  the  tumour,  inflammation,  and  hardness,  sub- 
sided; the  noise  in  breathing  gradually  lessened,  till  it  ceased; 
and  by  the  assistance  of  pectoral  medicines,  the  bark,  &c.  the 
hectick  and  cough  after  a  while  loft  him;  and  with  them  the 
sweats,  (fee.  his  appetite  returned,  and  he  recovered  his  strength, 

though  slowly;  and  is  at  this  time  in  tolerable  health." 

— (*'  Memoirs  of  the  American  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences," 
vol.  ii.  part  i.  18'J,  190.) 

It  was  Dr.  Ilolyoke's  opinion  that  the  abscess 
formed  originally  in  the  thoracic  parietes,  and  after- 
ward penetrated  to  the  lung,  which  had  become 
adherent  to  the  walls  of  the  chest  at  this  part, — 
discharging  itself  through  the  bronchial  tubes. 
The  abscess  having  a  comnmnication  with  a  cavity 
in  the  lung,  the  air  would  pass  to  and  fro,  during 
the  act  of  breathing;  "and  this  passing  and  re- 
passing of  the  air,"  continues  Dr.  Ilolyoke,  "  will 
fully  account  for  the  noise  which  the  patient  com- 
plained of." 

From  the  accompanying  symptoms,  such  as 
emaciation,  cough,  and  hectic  fever,  it  seems  prob- 


96 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


1  •  f- ' 


able  that  this  case  was  one  of  empyema,  arising^ 
from  pleuritic  inflammation,  in  which  the  matter 
pointed  outwardly,  but  before  breaking  through 
the  skin  burst  into  the  lung,  and  was  thereby  dis- 
charged. The  pathology  of  thoracic  disease  was 
not  then  understood  as  well  as  now;  and  it  is  not 
surprising  that  Dr.  Holyoke  should  have  thought 
that  the  abscess  formed  externally  to  the  chest,  and 
afterwards  made  its  way  into  the  lung.  The  re- 
port of  this  case  contains  more  than  a  hint  of  the 
great  fact  which  has  rendered  the  name  of  a 
French  physician  illustrious  in  the  annals  of  med- 
icine. 

The  fourth  meeting  of  the  Society  was  held  on 
July  18, 1783,  when  "  The  Com :  appointed  to  agree 
"upon  a  Device  and  Motto  for  a  Seal,  laid  several 
Devices  before  the  Society,  particularly  a  Figure 
of  ^sculapius  in  his  proper  habit  pointing  to  a 
wounded  Hart  nipping  the  Herb  jiroper  for  his 
Cure  with  this  motto,  Wivere  natura.' "  The  design 
was  adopted,  though  the  motto  was  changed  to 
natura  duce;  and  the  same  committee  was  author- 
ized to  procure  a  seal  made  after  this  device. 

The  fifth  meeting  was  held  on  September  4,  when 
it  was  voted,  "  That  the  Fellows  of  this  Society  be 
requested  to  transmit  to  the  Recording  Secretary 
an  Account  of  those  Diseases  that  have  from  one 
stated  Meeting  to  another  been  most  prevalent  in 
the  Circle  of  their  practise,  that  the  same  may  be 
laid  before  the  Council  for  their  Inspection  and 
such  communicated  to  the  Society  as  the  Council 
shall  direct."    Many  such  papers  were  then  sent 


centek:nial  address. 


97 


re- 


l  to 


in,  whicli  arc  now  carefully  preserved  on  the 
8oeiety'.s  liles. 

The  sixth  ineering  wan  held  on  October  10,  but 
no  quorum  was  present. 

The  seventh  nieetin<^  was  held  on  April  9, 1783, 
when  the  connnlttee  on  the  Seal  reported  that  they 
had  procured  one,  which  was  laid  belbre  the  Society 
and  unanimously  accepted.  It  was  also  voted  that 
candidates  for  practice,  who  had  passed  a  satis- 
factory examination  by  the  Censors,  should  pay 
the  sum  of  eight  Spanish  milled  dollars.  A  cir- 
cular letter  was  adopted  to  be  sent  to  those  mem- 
bers mentioned  in  the  Act  of  Incorj)oration,  who 
had  not  been  present  at  any  of  the  meetings.  IJy 
the  records  i  t  appears  that  thei'e  wei'e  eight  such 
jjersons.     The  letter  is  as  follows: — 

Sir,  Tlie  Fellows  of  tli(^  Mass:  Mi'dica!  Society,  wlio  have 
met  from  time  to  time  for  the  purposes  of  their  Appointment,  have 
conceived  themselves  happy  in  yonr  havinij  l)een  appointeil  one 
of  its  Fellows,  and  iteg  I^-ave  to  assure;  you.  that  your  C'omuni- 
catious  will  at  all  times  he  hi<,'lily  acceptahle;  and  that  tliey  arc 
siucerely  desirous  of  your  Assistance  in  earryiuij  on  the  IWisiness 
of  fiu^  Society,  which  in  its  ISeginniiiji  calls  for  uioie  particular 
Exertions,  aiul  re(piires  tin;  joint  Fll'orts  of  all  its  uiemhers. 

The  Sticiety  has  been  so  unfortunate  as  not  in  any  way  to  he 
informed  of  the  Deti'rmination  of  several  (leiitlenu'ii.  a])pointed  l»y 
an  Act  of  tlu>  (ieneral  Court  Fellows  thereof,  relative  to  their  Ac- 
ceptance of  the  Trust,  for  want  of  which  information,  the  .Society 
in  the  pro.secution  of  its  IJusiness,  has  found  itself  endiarrass'd  and 
unahle  to  make  such  Arranjremenls  ;is  miirht  more  fidly  tend  ti) 
promote  th(!  Ends  and  Designs  of  the  Institution,  for  which  Reason 
we  have  addnjss'd  you  on  tins  Subject;  not  ilnnliting  of  your  he- 
uevolent  Intentions  ifc  I?ea;lines.s  to  proinciteau  Indertaking.  con- 
ducive .as  we  hope  to  the  li'  nelit  of  Maidvind  in  i;eiieral  and  the 
JNIedical  Faculty  in  particular.  We  priisume  that  your  an>wer  of 
acceptance  will  be  forwarded  by  the  first  opi)". 

With  bcutimeuts  of  Kes|)ect  A:  Esteem, 

We  aie  «Stc 


98 


CENTENI'TIAL  ADDRESS. 


At  the  same  meeting  a  Tli'solvc  Avas  road,  passed 
by  tlic  (Ji'iu'ial  Court  March  20,  on  the  petition  of 
(/otton  Tuft-s,  ;»i-anting  tlie  use  ol'  a  room  in  the 
Ma II u factory  House  to  tlie  Massachusetts  Medical 
Society,  in  connection  with  tlie  American  Academy 
of  Arts  and  Sciences.  The  Manufactory  House 
was  a  noted  public  buildinj^  of  that  time,  belong- 
ing to  the  State,  and  situated  in  Tremont  Street, 
nearly  opposite  to  the  site  of  the  Pai'k  Street  Meet- 
ing-house. The  room  was  fitted  up  conjointly  by 
tile  two  associations,  and  first  nsed  by  the  Med- 
ical Society  on  October  ir*,  1781}.  It  was  occupied 
by  them  for  tlu;  staled  meetings  held  on  October 
30,  and  April  14,  1784,  and  probably  for  other 
minor  ]mri)oses.  The  meeting  on  June  2,  as  well 
as  the  one  on  July  21,  took  place  in  tin.  County 
court-house,  where  all  (he  former  ones  had  been 
held,  before  the  I'oom  in  the  Manufactory  House 
was  occujiied.  The  meeting  of  Ajiril  13,  1785, 
was  held  in  "the  Stockholders'  room  in  the  Bank." 
The  Massachusetts  Bank,  then  the  only  bank 
in  the  State,  was  organized  in  the  year  1784,  at 
which  time  it  bought  the  Manufactory  House,  sold 
by  order  of  the  General  Court.  The  stockholders' 
room  in  this  building  was  the  apaitinent  ])revionsly 
used  by  the  Society.  The  meeting  of  May  4, 1785, 
took  place  in  the  Senate  Chamber  of  the  Old 
State  House,  and  the  one  of  October  19,  1785,  was 
held  in  "Mr.  Furnass's  ])ainting  room  in  Court 
St.;"  while  that  of  October  18,  178l),  was  "in  the 
hired  room  in  Court  Street," — wiiich  may  have 
been  the  same  as  Mr.  I^uiiass's  room.     The  meet- 


CENTENNIAL  ADDRESS. 


99 


ings  of  October  20,  1790,  and  April  13,  1791, 
wore  held  in  Concert  Hail,  a  noted  tavern  at  tlie 
soutlierly  cornei*  of  Court  and  Hanover  streets.  I 
have  l)een  particular  in  giving  some  of  the  minor 
details  of  tlie  Society's  early  history,  in  order 
to  show  its  small  beginnings  and  the  changing 
places  of  its  nieetings.  It  is  well  sometimes  to 
compare  present  opportunities  with  the  narrow 
means  of  past  generations. 

The  birth  of  the  present  Medical  School  in  the 
year  1783  formed  an  epoch  in  the  medical  history 
of  the  State,  though  the  Massachusetts  Medical 
Society,  as  a  corporate  body,  did  not  oiticiate  on 
the  occasion.  At  first  the  School  was  looked  upon 
by  the  fellows  with  some  jealousy,  as  they  feared 
that  the  existence  of  two  institutions  would  lead  to 
serious  embarrassments.  The  matter  was  consid- 
ered of  sufHcient  importance  to  be  referred  to  a 
special  committee  of  the  Society,  which,  however, 
did  not  report  for  nearly  three  years.  At  the 
meeting  held  on  October  15,  1783,  it  is  recorded 
that — 

"  Upon  a  RecoivieiKlation  of  Council,  to  consider  Whitlior  tho 
Doings  of  any  of  tlie  literary  Societies  in  this  Coivion wealth,  inter- 
fere with  the  Charter  Rights  of  the  Medical  Society ; 

"  Voted,  That  a  Coiii:  of  three  be  appointed  to  take  into  Con- 
sideration the  above  Recoinendation.  and  to  confer  with  any  such 
Societies  (upon  t'le  Subject,  as  they  may  think  proptsr)  and 
report : 

"  Voled  That  D'.  Cotton  Tufts,  D'.  Kneehuid  &  D'.  Appleton 
be  this  Committee. 

Nothing  further  relating  to  this  subject  appears 
to  have  been  done,  until  the  meeting  on  June  7, 
1786,  when— 


ii 


100 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


I 


Ii.- 


;^ii: 


i  ': 


'*  Tlin  Com:  apiiniritod  on  IT)  Orl'  ITH,']  to  consider  wliitlicr 
tilt'  I)(iiiijf>  of  jiiiy  of  the  literal  y  .Societies  in  this  C'oinonweaith 
inlerfere  willi  tiie  Cliaiter  liiylits  of  this  Society.  A;  to  confer 
wilii  any  snch  Societies  npoii  the  Subject  as  tlu'y  nii;u'l't  tJiink 
|>ro|ier,  reported.  That  llu^y  had  attended  tiio  i)usiness  of  tiieir  ap- 
pointnu-nt  and  ujion  examining  the  Medical  Institutions  of  Harvard 
Colh';,'c,  the  Cofii :  were  of  Opinion  tliat  those  Institutions  did  in- 
terfere with  the  Charter- Uiji^ht  of  tliis  Society  'to  exuniinu  Can- 
didat(^s  for  tlie  practise  of  I'iiysic  it  Siiryery  &  to  j^raiit  Letters 
testimonial  of  the  Kxainination  of  such  as  shall  lie  found  skilled  in 
their  profession  '  in  that,  those  Institutions  provided  for  the  Medi- 
cal professors  of  that  C"olIe<i[e  exaniininij  their  I'npils  &  jfranting 
Letters  testimonial  oi"  pnlilic  Cerlilicates,  to  such  of  them  as  tlu^y 
jiid^ffd  proper,  of  their  Al)ilities  to  practiso  Physic.  Whereupon 
the  Com:  a|)plied  to  the  (Jovernment  of  tlie  ('ollege  for  a  Confer- 
ence upon  the  Subject,  which  was  had.  »t  endtMl  in  an  agreement 
that  the  Com :  should  confer  witli  the  Medical  professors  of  the 
College  «fc  make  such  urrangements  res[)ccting  this  matter  as 
sliould  l»e  mutually  agreed  upon  for  the  Honor  of  both  Soci»!tie.s  «S- 
the  advancement  of  Medical  Knowledge.  This  Conference  be- 
tween those  Me<lical  professors  &,  the  Com:  for  some  reasons, 
unknown  to  the  CoiTi :  was  never  iield.  The  Coin:  further  n^port 
that  it  has  lately  been  suggested  t<»  them  that  the  Medic.il  Institu- 
tions of  llarv:  College  have  Ikhmi  altered,  whereupon  Kni|uirv  was 
made  respecting  tlui  Matter  and  an  Ace"  of  the  above  InstitutioiiH 
authenticated  by  the  SeciY  of  the  Overseers,  was  procured,  and 
upon  a  careful  examination  the  CoiTi:  were  clearly  «!t  unanimously 
of  Opinion  tluit  Harvard  College  Medical  Institutions  do  not,  and 
that  no  Doings  of  that  or  of  any  other  literary  .Society  do,  as  far 
as  the  Coin:  coultl  find,  interfere  with  tiie  Charter  llights  of  thi.s 
Society." 

At  tiii.s  time  there  were  but  three  profe.s.sors  in 
the  Medioiil  School ;  juul  two  of  these  were  origi- 
nal members  oi'  the  Medieal  Society.  It  was, 
therefore,  extremely  improbable  thtit  there  would 
be  any  })ermaneiit  friction  between  the  two  bodies. 
The  Medical  Society  had  no  right  to  confer  degrees; 
and  it  does  not  ap})ear  that  the  Medical  School  Inid 
any  intention  of  granti'.ig  testimonial  letters  to  the 
proiession  at  large.  What  then  bid  fair  to  be  a 
little  tempest  soon  subsided. 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


101 


The  Amoi'lcan  Kc volution  had  opened  a  new 
field  lor  medical  investigations,  and  the  establish- 
ment of  military  hospitals  furnished  inereased  faci- 
lities for  the  study  of  practical  anatomy.  The 
opportunities  for  dissection  were  frequent,  and  the 
young  and  enthusiastic  students  of  medicine  were 
not  slow  to  avail  themselves  of  these  advantages. 
Dr.  John  Warren  had  been  appointed  superin- 
tending surgeon  of  the  military  hospital  in  Boston; 
and  his  zeal  for  anatomical  and  surgical  studies 
soon  prompted  him  to  utilize  some  of  the  bodies 
of  soldiers  who  had  died,  without  friends  to  claim 
for  them  the  last  rites  of  burial.  To  this  end,  in 
the  winter  of  1780,  he  began  a  course  of  demon- 
strations at  the  hosi)ital,  situated  at  the  west  end 
of  the  town,  near  the  site  of  the  Massachusetts 
General  lIosi)ital;  and  this  course  of  lectures  was 
the  forerunner  of  those  now  given  at  the  Harvard 
Medical  School.  These  demonstrations  were  car- 
ried on  with  great  secrecy,  and  attended  only  by  a 
few  physicians  and  medical  students.  During  the 
next  winter  another  course  was  given,  which  was 
more  public;  and  these  two  courses  laid  the  foun- 
dation of  the  present  Harvard  School.  Dr.  War- 
ren was  encouraged  in  the  undeitaking  by  the  help 
he  received  from  the  Boston  Medical  Society,  an 
association  organized  about  that  time  to  pursue 
anatomical  studies.  The  School  began  operations 
in  the  year  1783;  and  Dr.  Warren  was  chosen, 
most  naturally,  to  fdl  the  professorship  of  anatomy 
and  surgery.  At  first  the  lectures  were  delivered 
at  Cambridge,  and  were  attended  not  only  by  the 
14 


102 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


medical  students,  but  by  the  senior  class  of  the 
college.  Subsequently  the  whole  coui'se  of  in- 
struction was  given  in  Boston,  where  there  were 
better  opportunities  for  clinical  practice  and  sur- 
gical operations.  This  change  took  place  in  the 
autumn  of  1810,  though  it  had  in  part  been  brought 
about  during  the  preceding  year.  The  removal 
was  followed  immediately  by  a  large  increase  in 
the  number  of  students. 

Dr.  Warren  held  the  position  from  his  election 
I^ovember  22,  1782,  until  his  death,  which  took 
place  April  4,  1815.  He  was  succeeded  by  his 
son.  Dr.  John  Collins  Warren,  who  held  the  place 
until  the  year  1847,  when  he  was  followed  by  Dr. 
Oliver  Wendell  Holmes.  It  is  not  a  little  re- 
markable that  during  a  period  of  nearly  a  century 
this  chair  has  had  but  three  occupants ;  and  I  doubt 
whether  a  similar  term  of  service  by  three  succes- 
sive professors  can  be  found  in  any  other  college 
of  the  country.  Dr.  John  Warren,  who  was  the 
younger  brother  of  Dr.  Joseph  Warren,  the  Revo- 
lutionary General,  is  the  ancestor  of  a  long  line  of 
eminent  physicians.  He  was  folloA^  ?d  in  the  pro- 
fession by  his  son.  Dr.  John  Collins  Warren,  the 
father  of  the  late  Dr.  Jonathan  Mason  Warren,  a 
distinguished  surgeon,  whose  memory  I  revere  as 
that  of  a  faithful  preceptor.  It  is  with  feelings 
akin  to  pride  that  I  mention  him  on  this  occasion 
as  my  instructor  when  a  medical  student,  as  his 
father  before  him  had  been  of  my  father.  The 
representative  of  the  Warren  family,  in  the  fourth 
generation,  can  stand  on  his  own  merits  without 


^ 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


103 


any  help  from  the  name;  and  to-morrow  he  will 
speak  for  himself  before  this  Society,  as  the  orator 
of  the  clay. 

In  the  early  period  of  its  history,  the  School  was 
not  known  by  its  present  name,  but  was  called  the 
Medical  Institution  of  Harvard  College;  though 
somewhat  later  it  is  spoken  of  as  the  Medical 
School  of  Harvard  College  or  of  Harvard  Univer- 
sity. Occasionally  it  is  mentioned  in  the  news- 
papers as  the  Boston  Medical  School ;  and  after  its 
removal  from  Cambridge,  it  is  sometimes  called 
the  Massachusetts  Medical  College,  the  name  given 
to  the  building  erected  in  Mason  Street,  for  the 
use  of  the  School.  An  engraving  of  this  structure 
may  be  found  in  "The  New  England  Journal  of 
Medicine  and  Surgery,"  for  April,  1816.  It  is  only 
in  recent  times,  perhaps  within  twenty-five  years, 
that  the  institution  has  been  called  the  Harvard 
Medical  School.  This  name  has  grown  up  gradu- 
ally, and  now  we  seldom  or  never  hear  any  other 
given  to  it. 

The  Berkshire  Medical  Institution  may  be  no- 
ticed in  this  place.  It  was  established  at  Pittsfield, 
in  the  year  1822,  in  coimection  with  Williams 
College,  though  fifteen  years  later  it  became  inde- 
pendent of  it.  It  filled  an  important  position  in 
the  medical  history  of  the  State,  and  was  always 
in  close  afliliation  with  this  Society.  At  one  time 
it  had  a  large  number  of  students;  but  owing  to  a 
diversity  of  causes  its  prosperity  was  checked, 
and  it  was  given  up  as  a  medical  school  in 
the  year  18(38.     By  an  Act  of   the  Legislature, 


1 


iu 


n 


« 


•  *  'lij 


# 


\     '■ 


104 


CENl'ENNIAL  ADDRESS. 


passed  May  22,  1869,  the   corporation  was  dis- 
solved. 

At  the  meeting  held  October  26,  1785,  corre- 
sponding and  advising  committees  were  appointed 
for  the  different  counties  of  the  State,  in  order  to 
encourage  reports  of  professional  cases  to  this 
Society;  and  many  years  later,  on  April  28, 1803, 
it  was  voted — 

"  That  the  Commonwealth  be  divided  into  4  Districts,  the 
Middle,  Southern,  Eastern,  &  Western ;  the  Middle  to  consist  of 
Suffolk,  Norfolk,  Essex,  &  Middlesex;  the  Southern  of  Ply- 
mouth, Bristol,  Barnstable,  Dukes  County,  and  Nantucket;  the 
Eastern  district  [to  consist]  of  Maine ;  the  Western  [of  J  Hamp- 
shire, Berkshire,  and  Worcester." 

Immediately  afterward  committees  were  ap- 
pointed for  each  of  these  districts,  "  to  ascertain 
who  are  deserving  of  becoming  Fellows."  These 
organizations  have  since  grown  and  become  the 
present  District  Societies.  At  the  beginning  of 
this  century,  Hampshire  County  included  the 
present  ones  of  Franklin  and  Hampden. 

At  the  meeting  held  on  iS"ovember  8,  1786,  the 
Council  of  the  Society  was  requested  to  consider 
the  propriety  of  addressing  the  Legislature  that 
some  measures  might  be  taken  to  prevent  the  sale 
of  bad  and  adulterated  medicines,  and  to  report 
thereon. 

In  the  spring  of  1700,  the  first  number  of  a 
pnljlication  entitled  ''  Medical  Papers ''  was  pre- 
pared under  the  direction  of  the  Society,  and  five 
hundred  copies  printed;  but,  for  the  want  of  funds, 
the  second  numbei"  did  not  appear  until  the  year 
1806.     The  third  number  was  printed  in  1808, 


CENTEIST^IAL   ADDRESS. 


105 


which  completed  the  first  volume  of  the  scries  iioav 
known  as  the  "Medical  Communications  of  the 
Massachusetts  Medical  Society."  It  is  made  uj) 
almost  entirely  of  papers  written  hy  the  members, 
giving  the  result  of  their  observations  on  diseases 
and  epidemics  in  their  respective  neighboi'hoods. 
The  address  of  Dr.  Isaac  Kand,  delivered  June  G, 
1804,  is  usually  bound  in  this  volume.  Its  subject 
is  "Observations  on  Phthisis  Pulmonalis  ";  and  it 
is  the  first  one  of  the  long  series  of  annual  ad- 
dresses made  before  the  Society.  This  pamphlet 
became  so  rare  that,  by  a  vote  of  the  Councillors, 
it  was  reprinted  in  the  year  1853.  It  was  published 
in  exact  facsimile,  under  the  careful  supervision 
of  the  late  Dr.  Nathaniel  Bradstreet  Shurtlelf. 
The  "Medical  Communications  "  have  been  con- 
tinued until  now,  when  they  comprise  a  work  of 
twelve  volumes.  One  mnnber  of  the  "  Communi- 
cations" appears  each  year,  and  five  or  six  of 
them  make  up  a  volume;  the  later  numbers  con- 
sisting of  the  annual  addresses,  proceedings  of  the 
meetings,  and  other  i)apers. 

A  PharmacopaMa,  i)repared  by  Di's.  Janus  Jack- 
son and  John  Collins  Warren,  was  published  in 
the  year  1808,  under  the  auspices  of  the  Society. 
It  was  formed  on  the  plan  of  the  PharmacopaMa 
of  the  Edinburgh  College,  and  was  designed  to 
introduce  modern  nomenclature,  and  to  establish 
greater  uniformity  in  the  prescriptions  of  physi- 
cians. "  The  American  New  Dispensatory,"  writ- 
ten by  Dr.  James  Thacher,  and  published  in  the 
year  1810,  was  submitted  to  a  ccmmittee  of  this 


m 


f    n 


't  :, 


106 


CENTEISlflAL   ADDRESS. 


Society,  and  received  its  official  sanction.  The 
basis  of*  this  work  was  the  Pharmacopeia  which 
has  just  l)een  mentioned.  The  "Library  of  Prac- 
tical Medicine  " — a  scries  of  twenty-five  volumes, 
mainly  reprints  of  English  works — was  also  pub- 
lished for  the  use  of  the  fellows.  It  began  in  the 
year  1831,  and  was  continued  until  18G8. 

"  The  Publications  of  the  Massachusetts  Medical 
Society,"  technically  so  called,  were  begun  in  the 
year  1800,  and  kci)t  up  until  1871.  They  consist 
of  three  volumes,  comprising,  for  the  most  part, 
essays  and  I'cports  read  at  the  meetings,  and  sub- 
sequently published.  Papers  of  this  character 
are  now  printed  in  the  ""  Communications,"  and  do 
not  appear  in  any  separate  serial. 

It  may  not  be  inai)propriate  to  mention  in  this 
place  "  The  IS^ew  England  Journal  of  Medicine  and 
Surgery,"  which  was  publi>hed  quarterly  in  Bos- 
ton. While  it  was  not  an  ofhcial  organ,  it  was 
"conducted  by  a  munber  of  i)hysicians,"  in  the 
warmest  interest  of  this  Society.  It  was  edited 
with  much  ability,  and  contained  many  original 
papers.  It  began  in  the  year  1812,  and  was  kept 
u])  imtil  1828,  when  it  was  followed  by  "  The 
Boston  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal,"  a  publica- 
tion which  has  continued  till  the  present  time. 

The  protective  power  of  vaccination  was  dis- 
covered in  England  by  Edward  Jennei',  near  the 
end  of  the  last  century;  and  the  news  of  its 
discovery  was  soon  l)rought  to  this  country. 
Among  the  first  (persons  here,  and  perhaps  the 
lirst  whose  critical  attention  was  called  to  its  im- 


i  i 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


107 


])ortaiice,  uas  Dr.  Benjamin  Watcrhoiisc,  of  Cani- 
l)ridgt',  an  cai'ly  I'ellow  of  tliis  Society.  Its  intro- 
duction, like  that  of  variolous  inoculation,  was 
destined  to  meet  with  many  difficulties  and  obst  - 
clcs ;  and  Di\  Waterhouse  was  to  be  the  champion. 
He  wrote  much  as  an  advocate  of  the  cause;  and 
in  spite  of  popular  ridicule  and  prejudice  he  suc- 
ceeded in  carrying  the  day.  A  communication, 
signed  with  his  initials  and  dated  at  Cambridge, 
March  12,  is  found  in  the  "  Columbian  Centinel  " 
of  March  1(5,  1799.  It  is  headed  "  Soinethinf/  cu- 
rious in  the  Medical  Line,"  and  is  the  first  account 
of  vaccination  that  was  given  to  the  public  in  this 
country.  In  the  ai'ticle  Dr.  Waterhouse  desci'ibes 
cow-pox,  and  says  that  it  must  not  be  confounded 
with  another  disorder,  incident  to  the  human  I'ace, 
which  bears  a  somewhat  similar  name.  He  jn-inted 
the  account  in  a  news])aper  in  order  to  excite  "the 
attention  of  our  dairy  farmers  to  such  a  disteni[)er 
among  their  cows,"  and  to  inform  the  profession 
generally  of  this  security  against  small-pox. 

In  the  year  1800  he  published  a  tract  entitled 
"A  Prospect  of  exterminating  the  Small-pox;  be- 
ing the  history  of  the  Variola  \"accina  or  Kine- 
pox,"  &c.;  and  in  it  he  describes  the  method  he 
used,  July  8,  1800,  in  vaccinating  his  son,  Daniel 
Oliver  AVaterhouse,  a  lad  live  years  of  age,  who 
had  this  disease  in  a  mild  way.  From  the  arm  of 
this  boy  he  vaccinated  another  son,  three  years 
old,  who  had  the  customary  symptoms  in  a  light 
form;  and  subsequently  he  "  inoculated  a  servant 
boy  of  about  12  years  of  age,  with  some  of  the 


f^m 


!i 


i5pn 


108 


CENTENKJAL   ADDRESS. 


infected  thread  from  England."  Tliis  expression 
furni.slies  the  ekv  to  the  method  adopted  for  ob- 
taining the  vaccine  virus,  ■which  came  "  l)y  a  short 
passage  from  Bristol,"  England;  though  in  the 
autumn  of  1802,  Dr.  Waterhouse  speaks  of  re- 
ceiving quill-points,  or  "  looth-picks,"  charged 
with  virus.  Before  he  had  iinished  the  practice 
in  his  own  family,  he  had  vaccinated  four  of  his 
children  and  three  of  his  servants,  with  no  sei'ious 
symptoms  or  consequences.  The  faith  he  had  in 
the  eliicacy  of  the  operation,  prompting  him  to 
try  it  on  one  of  his  own  children,  was  of  that  liv- 
ini>;  kind  which  alwavs  commands  attention.  In 
this  matter  we  are  reminded  of  Dr.  Boylston's 
bold  act  in  inoculating  his  son  for  small-pox. 

In  the  year  1802  Dr.  Watei-house  published  a 
work  of  one  hundred  and  thirty-foiu*  pages,  which 
formed  Part  II.  of  the  previously  mentioned  tract; 
and  in  it  he  gives  a  full  account  of  the  new  inocu- 
lation in  America.  In  all  his  efforts  to  introduce 
vaccination,  Dr.  Waterhousc  was  warmly  seconded 
by  Dr.  William  Aspinwall,  of  Brookline,  who  de- 
serves no  small  meed  of  praise  in  this  matter. 
Dr.  Aspinwall  had  paid  much  attention  to  variolous 
inoculation;  and  after  the  death  of  Dr.  Boylston, 
the  first  American  inoculator  in  point  of  time,  he 
erected  small-pox  hospitals  in  Brookline,  where  he 
treated  a  large  number  of  patients  for  the  disease, 
which  had  been  artificially  induced.  No  man  in 
America,  probably,  ever  inoculated  so  many  per- 
sons, or  enjoyed  so  wide  a  reputation  for  his  skill 
in  so  doing,  as  Dr.  Aspinwall. 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


109 


Massachusetts  was  the  fii'st  colonv  to  introcliiee 
sniall-jjox  inoculation,  and  she  was  also  the  first 
State  to  adopt  kine-pox  vaccination;  and  her 
towns  have  always  taken  the  lead  in  sanitary  mat- 
ters. During  the  summer  and  autumn  of  1802 
some  interesting  experiments  were  conducted  un- 
der the  direction  of  the  Boston  Board  of  Health, 
whose  unremitting  exertions  at  that  time,  to  pre- 
vent contagious  disease,  entitle  them  to  the  highest 
praise.  The  Board  fitted  up  a  hospital  on  Nod- 
dle's Island,  now  known  as  East  Boston,  and  in- 
vited a  number  of  physicians  to  co-operate  with 
them  in  an  undertaking  to  diffuse  knowledge  and 
dispel  prejudice  in  regard  to  vaccination.  Some 
bold  experiments  were  tried  at  this  hospital,  which 
fortunately  were  highly  successful.  On  August 
16,  1802,  nineteen  boys  were  vaccinated,  and  all 
passed  through  the  regular  stages  of  the  cow-pox; 
and  on  November  9,  twelve  of  these  children,  to- 
gether with  a  son  of  Dr.  Bartlett,  who  had  pre- 
viously had  the  cow-pox,  were  inoculated  for  the 
small-pox,  with  matter  taken  from  a  patient  in  the 
most  infectious  state  of  the  disease,  and  no  trouble 
whatever  followed.  In  order  to  show  the  true 
variolous  character  of  the  virus  used  in  this  ex- 
periment, two  lads  were  inoculated  at  the  same 
time  with  the  same  matter;  and  in  due  time  a 
severe  eruptive  fever  followed,  with  a  plenteous 
crop  of  variolous  pustules.  AVhen  these  two  cases 
were  in  the  right  stage,  matter  was  taken  from 
1  hem  and  inserted,  for  a  second  time,  in  the  arms 

15 


110 


CENTENNIAL  ADDRESS. 


II 


of  the  twelve  children  Avho  had  been  previously 
inoculated,  and  besides  in  the  arms  of  the  other 
seven  boys  who  were  absent  at  the  first  inoculation. 
They  had,  moreover,  been  exposed  to  infection, 
most  of  them  for  twenty  days,  by  being  in  the 
same  room  with  the  two  lads  who  had  the  small- 
pox; and  all  nineteen  escaped.  These  and  other 
facts  arc  given  in  a  report  which  was  made  and 
signed  by  eleven  physicians, — James  Lloyd  and 
Benjamin  Waterhouse  appearing  at  the  head  of 
the  list.  A  full  and  official  account  of  the  whole 
aflair  is  found  in  the  "  Columbian  Centinel,"  De- 
cember 18, 1802. 

The  town  of  Milton  was  the  first  to  act  in  its 
corporate  capacity,  and  extend  the  benefits  of  vac- 
cination to  its  citizens.  In  the  year  1809,  three 
hundred  and  thirty-seven  persons  of  various  ages 
and  conditions  among  its  inhabitants  were  vacci- 
nated; twelve  of  them  were  afterward  tested  by 
inoculation  for  small-pox,  and  found  fully  pro- 
tected. The  test  was  conducted  by  Dr.  Amos 
Holbrook,  a  fellow  of  this  Society ;  and  the  twelve 
persons — eight  boys  and  four  girls — were  volun- 
teers for  the  operation.  The  town  acted  during 
the  whole  aifair  in  a  most  liberal  and  intelligent 
spirit,  and  published  a  valuable  pamphlet,  setting 
forth  all  the  transactions  concerning  it.  It  was 
entitled  "  A  Collection  of  Papers  relative  to  the 
Transactions  of  the  Town  of  Milton,  in  the  State 
of  Massachusetts,  to  promote  a  General  Inoculation 
of  the  Cow  Pox,  or  Kine  Pox,  as  a  never  failing 
preventive  against  Small  Pox  Infection;"  and  a 


!'" 


ii; 


CENTENNIAL  ADDRESS. 


Ill 


copy  was  sent  to  the  selectmen  of  each  town  in 
the  Commonwealth. 

About  this  time  a  similar  plan  of  public  vacci- 
nation was  adopted  at  New  Bedford.  By  an  Act 
of  the  Genei'al  Court,  passed  March  G,  1810,  the 
towns  throuj^hout  the  State  were  directed  to  ap- 
l)oint  committees  to  superi..tend  the  matter,  and 
authorized  to  dcfi-ay  the  expenses  of  a  general 
system  of  vaccination.  The  motive  power  of  all 
these  proceedings  was  furnished  by  the  Massa- 
chusetts Medical  Society,  though  it  was  not  always 
ai)parent. 

By  the  Act  of  Incorporation  the  membership  of 
the  Society  was  limited  to  seventy  persons;  but 
on  March  8,  1803,  an  additional  Act  was  passed 
by  the  General  Court,  which  removed  all  limita- 
tion, and  made  many  changes  in  other  respects. 
Since  then  the  number  of  fellows  has  been  steadily 
increasing;  and  at  the  present  time  every  town  in 
the  State,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  small  ones, 
is  represented  among  the  members. 

In  the  winter  of  1811,  an  effort  was  made  to  ob- 
tain from  the  General  Court  a  charter  for  another 
medical  society,  to  be  called  the  Massachusetts 
College  of  Physicians.  The  movement  was  stre- 
nuously opposed,  as  might  have  been  expected,  by 
the  Massachusetts  Medical  Society;  and  a  long 
controversy  was  the  result.  There  had  not  been 
so  much  personal  and  professional  feeling  excited 
among  the  physicians  of  the  State,  since  the  in- 
troduction of  small-pox  inoculation,  ninety  years 
before  this  time. 


ii 


[ 


}\ 


hi 


\M 


P"i:. 


112 


CENTENNIAL  ADDRESS. 


The  following  petition  to  the  Lcf^islnturc  was 
received  by  that  body  on  February  12,  1811,  and 
referred  by  them  six  days  after\vai-d  to  the  next 
General  Court: — 

To  the  Honourable  the  Senate,  and  the  Honourable  the  House 
of  lieprcsentatives,  in  Oeneral  Court  ussevibled,  this  petition 
most  respectfully  shewelh : — 

That  seeing  health  is  a  blessing,  which  sweetens  all  our  enjoy- 
ments; and  long  life  that  which  all  men  naturally  desire,  so  every 
thing  that  tendeth  to  secure  the  one  or  lendcth  to  the  other,  is  an 
object  worthy  the  attention  of  this  Legisluturc. 

And  considering,  moreover,  that  of  the  various  methods  of 
obtaining  and  diffusing  medical  knowledge,  not  one  is  found  so 
effectual  and  desirable  as  a  friendly  and  liberal  int((rcourse  and 
honourable  associations  of  its  professors;  more  especially  when 
their  end  and  aim  is  mutual  improvement  and  the  publicic  good ; 
and  experience  has  proved  that  two  literary  and  scientific  societies 
produce  more  than  double  the  advantage  of  one  — 

Influenced  by  these  sentiments,  wo  your  petitioners  humbly 
pray  the  Honourable  the  Legislature  to  constitute  us,  and  such  as 
may  hereafter  associate  with  us,  a  body  politic  and  corporate,  by 
the  name  and  title  of  the  Massachusetts  College  of  Physicians; 
with  such  powers,  privileges  and  immunities,  as  other  medical 
associations  of  the  like  nature  and  views  enjoy,  under  the  same 
denomination,  in  several  states  of  the  union. 

And  your  petitioners  shall,  as  in  duty  bound,  ever  pray. 


Thomas  Williams. 
Samukl  Danfouth. 
SIarsiiall  SrniNG. 
Natii.  Amks. 
William  Aspinwall. 
John  Jeffriks. 


James  Mann. 
Charles  Winsiiip. 
Abijah  Draper. 
James  Lovell. 
.Iacoh  Gates. 
William  Ingalls. 


At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Medical  Societj", 
held  June  5,  1811,  a  committee,  which  had  been 
appointed  "to  prepare  a  memorial  to  the  General 
Court  respecting  a  petition  for  the  incorporation 
of  a  college  of  physicians,"  presented  the  follow- 
ing remonstrance.  It  was  adopted  almost  nnani- 
mously,  one  member  only  out  of  seventy-two  dis- 
senting. 


CENTEITNIAL  ADDRESS. 


113 


To  the  Ho)Wxirahle  the  Smale  and  the  House  of  Jirprexenta- 
tives  of  the  Cotnnionwealtk  of  Mai^xachiinelltt. 

Tiir,  Massiidiusctts  Motliciil  Society,  in  C()iiso(|iiciiro  of  an  ap- 
plication to  the  (Jciicral  Court  in  Fcliruary  last,  for  tin-  incorpora- 
tion of  a  Collect)  of  I'liysiciaiiH,  hcj;  Icavo  rcHpoctfully  to  represent, 

That  th»'  Haiil  ISIiissachusetts  INIedical  Society  was  established 
in  November,  17H1,  with  [jower  to  elect  otIi<'«;rH,  examine  and 
licence  candidates  for  practicj,  hold  estate,  and  perpetuat(!  its  ex- 
istence as  a  body  corporate.  In  June,  17M2,  the  society  was 
organized  agreeal)ly  to  the  provisions  of  the  statute,  and  the 
members  directed  in  every  way  to  extend  and  increase  its  use- 
fulness. IJy  an  additional  act  of  the  (leneral  Court  in  Feltruary, 
1781),  authority  was  given  to  point  out  and  dtiscribe  such  a  inodo 
of  medical  instruction  as  might  lie  deemed  reipiisite  for  can<liilates 
previous  to  examination;  which  important  duty  has  been  con- 
stantly attended  to,  and  occasionally  revised.  I5y  a  fartlier  addi- 
tional act  in  March,  IHO.'i,  as  the  .'.ociety  was  thought  too  limited 
to  answer  the  purposes  of  its  establishment,  its  state  was  so  essen- 
tially changed,  that  the  number  of  its  fellows  origiiuilly  limited  to 
seventy,  may  embrace  all  respectable  physicians  and  surgeons 
resident  in  llie  state;  and  that  district  societies  may  be  estai)llshed 
in  such  places  as  will  facilitate  medical  improvement,  and  prevent 
the  inconvenience  of  applying  in  all  cases  to  the  censors  in  lioston 
for  at)  examination. 

In  consecpience  of  this  provision,  several  district  societies  are 
formed,  and  are  in  a  prosperous  condition,  cultivating  medical 
science,  and  (]ualifying  candidates,  in  various  parts  of  the  common- 
we.alth.  It  has  l)een  the  constant  endeavour  of  the  society,  with- 
out reference  to  local  or  political  considerations,  to  admit  the  most 
respectable  practitioners  in  every  section  of  the  state,  and  they  are 
desirous  to  elect  all  others  of  known  talents  who,  by  accident  or 
from  any  other  cause,  are  not  admitted. 

The  number  of  candiilates  licensed  for  practice  by  the  society 
is  more  than  eighty,  all  of  whom,  as  well  as  all  bachelors  of  medi- 
cine in  Harvard  University,  may  claim  admission  as  fellows  of  tlie 
society,  after  three  years  practice. 

The  present  number  of  fellows  exceeds  two  hundred.  PuIh 
lications  of  important  cases  communicated  to  the  society;  of  a 
Pharmacopoeia,  which  is  now  in  genenvl  use;  and  of  Dissc  tations 
read  at  the  meetings,  have  been  maile.  as  often  as  the  funns  would 
possibly  admit;  committees  have  been  appointed  to  investigate  the 
nature,  causes  and  cure  of  epidemics,  and  the  result  of  their 
inquiries  communicated  to  the  publick.  The  greatest  harmony  bus 
distinguished  their  proceedings.  No  mention  was  ever  made,  as 
has  been  insinuated,  of  regulating  fees  in  practice.  The  sole  object 
of  the  society  has  been  to  promote  the  design  of  its  institution,  and 
the  fellows  have  been  led  to  believe  by  the  constant  patronage  and 


.;» 


v 


■  ; 

i*'. 

u 

jr: 

? 

!^ 

ill.:',i 

F^: 

i 

W\- 


114 


CENTENNIAL  ADDRESS. 


Mi|i|)(»rt  of  tli(*  LcjL^isIiiturc,  iis  wi'll  us  tlio  piililick  voice,  that  th(>ir 
roiiiliirt  lius  Ix-cii  a|»|)i'()V('il. 

It  is  scjinM'ly  iiccu'SHiiry  to  rtMnark,  thftt,  from  tlio  state  of 
tii<<lii'.'il  Nciciicc,  at  tilt)  iiiiorpoiatioii  <>l'  the  Hocicty,  its  proj^TosM, 
for  several  years,  was  slow,  and  thai  it  was  less  uset'iil  than  eouM 
have  heeii  wished;  hut  hy  the  aid  and  eo-operation  of  the  lloiirish- 
iii;;  medical  school  at  the  llniversily,  it  is  at  this  time  in  u  most 
prosperous  states;  and  it  is  the  uiiite<l  endeavour  of  all  to  promoto 
medical  instrinrtion,  and  discouraji^e  unworthy  practices. 

It  is  to-  lid  1)11  examination  that,  the  petition  on  the  tiles  of  the 
(leiKM'al  Court,  for  a  ('olle;;t(  of  I'iiysicians,  is  for  similu-  [lOwers 
and  privileges  with  this  society,  on  the  j^round,  that  "  two  literary 
and  scieiitilic  societies,  woulil  producf;  more  than  douhle  the  ad- 
vaiitaj^es  of  oik!." — The  society  presume  not  to  dictate  to  the 
Le;;islature  on  this  important  suiiject;  hut  tlusy  he^  leave  respeci,- 
fully  to  oif(!r  an  opinion,  that  the  estahlisliment  of  such  an  institu- 
tion can  effect  no  ohject,  not  at;complislied  hy  existinj^  societies,  and 
would  he  so  far  from  promoting?  a  landahh;  and  useful  emulation, 
that  candidates  rejected  hy  one  society  wouhl  resort  to  the  other, 
with  the  greatest  lioptis  of  snc<!ess,  whatev(!r  mij^ht  In',  their  ([uali- 
fiiMtions  for  the  proper  exercise  of  tlufir  profession.  Hence  would 
arise  disa^fieements  and  animosities,  which  in  other  parts  of  the 
United  States  (particularly  in  I'hiladelphia  at  a  former  period,  and 
very  njccntly  at  New- York)  have  heen  injurious  to  tin;  profession 
an(l  to  the  puhlick.  Such  aiiimositi<!s  were  threatened  in  the  in- 
fancy of  this  establishment,  hy  a  supposed  interference  of  Harvard 
Collej^e,  with  the  rijjhts  of  the  Society,  and  would  have  produced 
the  most  unhappy  effects,  hut  for  the  re|)eal  of  an  exceptionable 
article  in  that  establishment,  and  the  ac(;ommodating  conduct  of 
those  who  !it  that  period  were  the  guardians  of  science,  and  the 
])atio!is  of  the  liealin<;  art. 

From  these*  considerations,  and  from  other  circumstances 
which  the  IMedical  Society  are  prepared  to  state,  they  have 
thought  it  an  incumbent  duty  to  re([uest  that  the  prayer  of  the 
said  petition  should  uot  be  granted,  and  they  as  in  duty  hound 
will  ever  pray. 

In  behalf  of  the  Society, 

JOHN  WARREN,  President. 
Boston,  June  5,  1811. 

On  June  14,  1811,  both  the  petition  and  remon- 
strance Avere  presented  at  the  same  time  to  the 
Legislature,  and  they  were  referred  to  a  joint 
connnittee  of  the  Senate  and  House.  After  cer- 
tain formalities  final  action  in  regard  to  them  was 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESa. 


115 


deferred  until  the  Hceond  He.s.sion  of  the  General 
Court,  whieh  was  to  meet  on  January  8,  1812. 
During  this  intc^rval  connnunieations  appeared  in 
the  newspapers,  and  ])ani])hlets  were  printed,  set- 
ting forth  the  views  of  tlie  writers  on  each  side  of 
^he  question.  At  one  time  it  seemed  as  if  the  })e- 
L.  mers  wo';'id  be  successful  in  their  etforts,  but 
finally  they  were  defeated. 

The  speech  of  Govei'uor  Gerry,  nt  the  opening 
of  the  session,  ccmtained  the  following  re.iarks: — 

"  Many  Institutions  in  this  Commonwealth  wliicli  have  promised 
great  benelit  to  tlio  pnldic,  would  iiuve  met  with  mnch  more  sue- 
cess,  had  similar  Corporations  heen  estahlished.  When  only  one  of 
any  kind  is  permitted,  it  too  t're<piently  happens,  that  u  majority 
of  individuals  eomposinj»  it,  inilul<,'e  their  private  views  and  in- 
terests, to  the  exelnsion  of  in(Mi,  of  the  most  enlar<,'(!d,  liheral.  and 
informed  minds;  and  thus  destroy  the  reputation  and  usefnhiess  of 
the  society  itself.  The  multiplieation  of  such  iuHtitiitions,  has  a 
tendeney,  not  only  to  prevent  this  evil,  which  is  an  opiate,  lo 
giunua,  hut  to  |)rodii(H.'  a  eompetitioii,  and  to  promote  in  the  hi<fh- 
e.st  degree  the  utility  of  such  establishmenta."  —  ("  Columbian 
Ceniinel,"  January  15,  1812.) 

An  attempt  had  been  made,  before  tlie  Legisla- 
ture met,  to  mingle  politics  with  the  question  and 
render  it  u  party  one.  It  will  be  seen,  by  the  ex- 
tract given  above,  that  the  Governor  threw  his 
influence  on  the  side  of  the  petitionei's. 

In  the  early  part  of  February,  1812,  the  com- 
mittee of  the  Legislature  gave  a  hearing  in  regard 
to  the  matter,  in  the  Senate  Chamber,  which  was 
filled  at  the  time  with  si)ect;itors.  Drs.  James 
Mann,  AVilliam  Ingalls,  Abijah  Draper  and  Joseph 
Lovell  appeared  in  order  to  support  the  petition; 
and  Drs.  David  Townscnd,  John  Warren,  Thomas 
Welsh,   Aaron  Dexter,  Josiah  Bartlett,  William 


116 


CENTENNIAL   ADDItESS. 


Spooner,  and  Benjamin  Shurtleff,  as  a  committee 
of  the  Medical  Society,  to  defend  the  remonstrance. 
The  petition  was  advocated  also  by  Dr.  Benjamin 
Waterhouse,  Professor  of  Theory  and  Practice  of 
Physic,  —  he  and  Drs.  Leonard  Jarvis,  Edward 
Whitaker,  Daniel  Thurber,  and  Nathaniel  S. 
Prentiss,  having  added  their  names  to  the  docu- 
ment. This  brought  out  a  reply  from  Dr.  James 
Jackson,  who  was,  shortly  afterward,  Dr.  Water- 
house's  successor,  in  behalf  of  the  medical  institu- 
tion at  Cambridge,  as  it  was  generally  understood 
that  a  new  school  would  be  connected  with  the 
proposed  establishment. 

On  the  next  day  the  committtec  reported,  by  a 
bare  majority,  so  far  in  favor  of  the  petitioners 
that  they  should  have  leave  to  bring  in  a  bill, 
which  report  was  accepted  by  the  Senate.  The 
procee^l'ngs  of  the  House  in  regard  to  it,  on  Feb- 
ruary 16,  1812,  are  found  in  the  "  Columbian 
Centinel,"  February  15,  and  are  as  follows: — 

"  Tlie  report  of  a  joint  Committee  which  liad  given  leave  for  the 
introduction  of  a  bill  to  incorporate  a  College  of  Fhyaicians,  and 
which  report  had  been  accepted  in  the  Senate,  was  taken  up'in  the 
House  yesterday,  when  the  House  non  concurred  the  vote  of  the 
Senate ;  and  refused  leave  to  bring  in  a  bill. 

"  This  day,  INIr.  Cannok,  moved  to  reconsider  tlie  vote  of  yester- 
day. This  motion,  which  involved  all  the  merits  of  the  question, 
was  advocated  by  the  mover,  JNIessrs.  Martin  of  Marblehead, 
Austin  of  Charlestown,  Gkkkn  of  Berwick,  and  others;  and 
opposed  by  JMessrs.  Guilds,  of  Pittsjield,  Mr.  Kittuidge,  Messrs. 
FosTEU,  Fay,  Russell,  Davis,  and  others,  and  was  negatived. 
For  it,  It)").  Against,  211.  The  debate  on  this  subject  was  ani- 
mated and  interesting,  and  lasted  three  hours.  The  gentlemen  of 
the  Committee  which  reported  the  leave  stated,  that  in  the  exami- 
nations before  them,  they  found  nothing  to  support  nor  justify  the 
numerous  insinuations  and  reports  which  had  been  circulated  in 
print  and  in  out-door  conversation,  tending  to  implicate  and  injure 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


117 


tbe  existing  Medical  Society;  but  that  the  Society  has  stood,  and 
now  stands,  on  high  ground  for  usefuhiess,  impartiality  and  respect- 
ability. It  was  clearly  demonstrated — though  attempts  were 
made  out  doors  to  make  it  a  party  question — that  the  institu- 
tion asked  for,  is  unnecessary,  and  that  if  granted  would  produce 
great  dissensions  among  the  faculty,  and  be  highly  injurious  to  the 
community." 

Thus  happily  ended  one  of  those  unpleasant 
controversies  which  never  lead  to  good  results. 
The  petition  for  the  Massachusetts  College  of 
Physicians,  as  well  as  the  remonstrance  against  it, 
are  found  in  Dr.  Bartlett's  address  delivered  at  the 
annual  meeting  of  this  Society,  June  6,  1810, 
which  was  published  "  with  alterations  and  addi- 
tions to  January  1,  1813,"  in  the  first  volume, 
second  series,  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical 
Collections.  This  edition  of  the  address  contains 
ten  pages  of  matter  more  than  the  one  printed  in 
the  second  volume  of  the  Medical  Communications. 

At  the  beginning  of  tlic  present  century,  Massa- 
chusetts had  no  hospital  for  the  treatment  of  general 
disease,  though  there  were  such  institutions  in  the 
States  of  ^ew  York  and  Pennsylvania.  During 
many  years  before  this  time,  there  were  various 
indications  in  the  community  that  the  want  of 
such  an  establishment  was  beginning  to  be  felt; 
and  in  the  summer  of  1810,  strenuous  efforts  were 
made  to  supply  the  want,  which  proved  successful. 
The  prime  movers  of  the  undertaking  were  so 
closely  identified  with  this  Society  that,  in  any  nar- 
ration of  its  histoiy,  the  Mas^iuchusetts  General 
Hospital  ought  to  be  mentioned.  A  circular  let- 
ter, dated  August  20,  1810,  was  prepared  by  Dr. 
James  Jackson  and  Dr.  John  Collins  Warren,  and 

IG 


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118 


CENTENNIAL  ADDRESS. 


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addressed  to  some  of  the  most  influential  citizens 
of  Boston  and  its  neighborhood,  for  the  purpose 
of  awakening  in  their  minds  an  interest  in  the  sub- 
ject. It  was  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Bovvditch,  as  re- 
corded in  his  "History  of  the  Massachusetts 
General  Hospital,"  that  this  circular-letter  might 
be  regarded  as  the  corner-stone  of  the  institution. 
The  two  writers  of  it  were  subsequently  presidents 
of  this  society. 

Dr.  Jamos  Jacks  ,  m.  the  first  signer,  is  perhaps 
the  most  conspicuous  character  in  the  medical  an- 
1  nals  of  Massachusetts.  I  doubt  whether  any  phy- 
sician in  the  Str.te  ever  exerted  so  large  and  lasting 
an  influence  over  his  professional  brethren  or  his 
patients.  Born  in  IS^ewburyport,  Octobe.'  3, 1777 ; 
gi-aduated  at  Harvard  College  in  the  class  of  179G; 
he  studied  his  profession  under  the  venerable  Dr. 
Holyoke,  of  Salem.  In  the  year  1812  he  was  ap- 
pointed to  the  Hersey  professorship  of  the  Theory 
and  Practice  of  Medicine,  which  he  continued  to 
hold  until  1836.  At  this  time  he  gave  up  the  ac- 
tive duties  of  the  ofiice,  and  was  chosen  Professor 
Emeritus.  His  writings  are  numerous,  and  all  his 
publications  show  great  wisdom  as  well  as  literary 
culture.  During  a  period  of  more  than  half  a 
century,  he  was  a  frequent  contributor  to  the  pages 
of  "  The  New-England  Journal  of  Medicine  and 
Surgery,"  and  of  "  The  Boston  Medical  and  Sur- 
gical Journal."  His  death  took  place  on  August 
27,1807. 

A  charter  for  a  hospital  was  granted  by  the 
Legislature,  February  25, 1811,  containing  a  liber- 


CENTENNIAL  ADDRESS. 


119 


al  gift  made  on  the  condition  that  $100,000  more 
should  be  subscribed  by  individuals.  Besides 
giving  the  Province  House,  the  official  residence 
of  the  provincial  Governors,  for  this  object,  tho 
State  helped  along  the  matter  in  various  ways.  By 
a  special  Resolve  it  was  provided  that  the  stone 
for  the  building  should  be  hammered  by  the  con- 
victs in  the  State  Prison  at  Charlestown.  The 
work  thus  done  is  estimated  at  more  than  $30,000. 
The  institution  was  opened  in  the  autumn  of  1821 ; 
though  the  McLean  Asylum  for  the  treatmei.  t  of 
the  Insane,  under  the  same  board  of  managers, 
was  in  operation  several  years  before  this  time. 

The  Massachusetts  General  Hosjoital  is  the 
oldest  institution  of  its  kind  in  New  England,  and 
for  the  high  professional  character  of  its  officers, 
and  for  its  efficient  management  is  second  to  none 
in  the  country.  The  community  owes  a  deep  debt 
of  gratitude  not  only  to  the  whole-souled  men  who 
endowed  the  hospital  with  their  means,  but  also  to 
the  accomplished  physicians  and  surgeons  who  de- 
voted their  time  and  thought  to  the  common  object. 
From  the  outset  its  growth  has  been  steady  and 
sure;  and  it  stands  to-day  an  abiding  monument 
to  the  noble  purposes  of  the  men  of  science,  as 
well  as  the  men  of  wealth,  who  established  it. 

Two  of  the  Governors  of  Massachusetts,  John 
Brooks  and  William  Eustis,  were  ])hysicians,  and 
both  early  fellows  of  this  Society.  They  each  had 
served  throughout  the  Revolution,  and  rendered 
important  services  to  their  country,  the  one  as  a 
field  ofiicer  and  the  other  as  a  surgeon.     In  after- 


wmmmimm 


120 


CENTENNIAL  ADDBESS. 


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life  both  of  them  occupying  political  positions  of 
usefulness  and  importance,  they  enjoyed  at  the 
same  time  a  wide  professional  influence.  I  do  not 
forget  that  the  second  office  in  the  gift  of  the  peo- 
ple of  this  Commonwealth  has  been  filled  by  three 
members  of  this  learned  association.  David  Cobb, 
an  officer  of  the  Revolution,  and  subsequently  a 
judge,  who  told  the  mob  at  Taunton,  during  the 
Shays  rebellion,  that  he  would  sit  as  a  judge  or  die 
as  a  general;  Henry  Halsey  Childs,  and  Elisha 
Huntington, —  all  these  have  been  Lieutenant-Gov- 
ernors of  the  State. 

The  fiist  American  seamar  treated  by  the  United 
States  Government  was  cnred  for  in  Boston  Har- 
bor by  Dr.  Thomas  Wei  sh,  a  charter  member  of 
this  Society.  The  first  United  States  Marine  Hos- 
pital was  built  at  Charlestown  in  the  year  1803, 
and  its  first  physician  was  Dr.  Chai'les  Jarvis, 
another  charter  member.  The  first  enactment  in 
this  country  legalizing  the  study  of  practical 
anatomy  was  passed  February  28,  1831,  by  the 
General  Court  of  this  Commonwealth.  For  a 
long  time  Massachusetts  was  the  only  State  in  the 
Union,  where  a  liberal  law  threw  its  protection  over 
this  important  branch  of  study ;  and  it  was  brought 
about  entirely  by  fellows  of  the  Medical  Society. 

The  greatest  boon  to  the  human  race,  since  the 
invention  of  printing,  has  been,  unquestionably, 
the  discovery  of  the  annesthetic  properties  of  sul- 
phuric ether:  all  Christendom  oAves  a  debt  of 
lasting  gratitude  for  the  knowledge  of  this  incal- 
culable blessing.    Scarcely  a  generation  has  passed 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


121 


since  the  great  fact  was  demonstrated  at  the  Mas- 
sachusetts General  IIos])ital  in  Boston,  that  the 
acutest  sensations  of  physical  suffering  under  the 
surgeon's  knife,  by  this  discovery  may  be  changed 
into  the  innocent  dreams  of  the  weary  sleeper.  By 
means  of  it  the  young  wife  awakens  from  her 
slumbers,  and  finds  thai,  unconsciously  she  is  a 
mother.  Through  its  power,  life  has  been  saved 
and  pain  prevented;  and  it  is  due  to  the  memory 
of  the  discoverer  that  on  this  occasion  we  should 
recognize  his  claims  as  a  public  benefactor.  The 
surgeons  of  the  Hospital,  all  membei's  of  this 
Society,  stood  sponsors  to  the  great  discovery ;  and 
by  their  prudent  and  judicious  action  hastened  the 
day  when  the  use  of  ether,  as  an  anjesthetie  agent, 
has  become  well-nigh  universal.  Mr.  Bowditch, 
in  his  History  of  the  institution,  gives  a  full  account 
of  the  introduction  of  its  use,  together  with  a 
detailed  statement  of  the  controversy  connected 
with  it.  • 

There  have  been  so  many  distinguished  fellows 
of  the  Massachusetts  Medical  Society,  worthy  to 
be  mentioned  on  this  occasion,  that  I  find  it  diffi- 
cult to  discriminate;  and  I  pass  them  over  in 
silence.  Their  names  are  so  cons])icuous  that  they 
will  readily  suggest  themselves;  but  I  should  be 
doing  an  injustice  to  my  own  feelings,  if  I  did  not 
publicly  recognize  the  labors  which  the  late  Dr. 
George  Derby  rendered  to  the  military  service  of 
his  country,  as  well  as  to  the  cause  of  sanitary 
science  in  his  native  State.  jVs  his  army  comrade 
through  several  campaigns,  I  have  a  right  to  speak 


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122 


CENTENXIAL  ADDRESS. 


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of  him  as  a  man  and  a  surgeon,  in  the  warmest 
terms  Avliioh  I'riendship  can  |)rom})t.  And  for  the 
name  reasons  I  cannot  wit  \hokl  a  tribute  to  the 
memory  of  the  late  Dr.  George  Alexander  Otis,  of 
Springfield,  who  left  the  State  as  Surgeon  of  the 
27th  Massachusetts  Yolunteerf  ;  though  he  after- 
ward received  a  commission  as  surgeon  In  the 
regular  army,  where  he  remained  imtil  his  death, 
February  2:i,  1881.  His  conti'ibutions  to  "The 
Medical  and  Surgical  History  of  the  AVar  of  the 
lieljellion  "  have  placed  him  among  the  i)romiuent 
writers  of  the  profession. 

In  the  late  War  for  the  Union,  the  members  of 
the  medical  profession  not  alone  of  Massachusetts, 
but  of  the  whole  countiy,  I^orth  aud  South,  Fed- 
eral and  Confederate,  Blue  and  Grey,  pei'formed 
such  noble  services  in  the  cause  of  humanity  that 
I  am  constrained  to  refer  to  them  in  this  address. 
During  a  long  service  I  am  proud  to  say  that  I 
have  never  known  an  instance  where  a  sick  or 
wounded  soldier,  friend  or  foe,  did  not  receive  from 
the  surgeon  the  best  professional  skill  available 
at  the  time,  whether  on  the  one  side  or  the  other 
of  the  contending  armies.  In  the  presence  of  pain 
and  suffering  all  hostility  was  buried.  Only  those 
siu'geons  Avho  have  served  in  the  field  are  aware 
of  the  hardships  in  the  treatment  of  medical  and 
surgical  cases  during  a  campaign.  I  do  not  al- 
lude now  to  personal  ])rivations  or  inconveniences 
which  are  shared  nearly  alike  by  all,  but  I  refer  to 
the  want  of  many  things  considered  necessary  in 
civil  life  for  the  care  of  the  sick,  and  always  es- 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


123 


sential  to  their  comfort.  Thcro  arc  i)hysicians  in 
tliis  aiulicncc  who  have  been  culled  upon  to  treat, 
(luring  the  bad  weather  of  an  inclement  season, 
miles  away  from  any  hosi)ital,  soldiers  lying  on 
the  ground  and  sulfering  with  all  the  symptoms  of 
acute  disease.  There  are  those  here  present  who 
have  been  obliged  lo  perform  severe  operations 
of  surgery,  in  the  dark  hours  of  the  night,  under 
the  broad  canopy  of  the  open  heavens,  by  the  faint 
ghmmer  of  smoky  candles  and  dingy  lanterns,  on  an 
extemporized  table,  or  perhaps  with  no  table  at  all. 

The  names  cut  on  the  marble  tablets  in  the  ad- 
joining hall  bear  witness  to  the  patriotism  of  many 
a  member  of  this  Society,  who  sealed  by  death  his 
devotion  to  the  country.  In  common  with  all 
classes  and  callings  the  physicians  of  the  loyal 
States  hastened  to  the  rescue  when  the  National 
Government  was  threatened,  and  proffered  their 
professional  services.  The  value  of  the  medical 
literature,  growing  out  of  these  services,  is  acknow- 
ledged thi'oughout  the  civilized  woi'ld. 

The  following  medical  officers  from  this  State 
were  slain  in  action,  while  in  the  line  of  their  duty: 
— Samuel  Foster  Haven,  Jr.,  Surgeon  15th  ]Massa- 
chusetts  Volunteers,  was  killed  at  Fi'edericksburg, 
Virginia,  December  13,  18G2;  Albert  Asaph  Ken- 
dall, Assistant-surgeon  12th  Massachusetts  Volun- 
teers, and  Edward  Hutchinsim  Kobbins  Revere, 
Assistant-surgeon  20th  Massachusetts  Volunteers, 
both  w^ere  killed  at  the  battle  of  Antietam,  Mary- 
land, September  17, 1802;  Franklin  Lainbei't  Hunt, 
Assistant-surgeon  27th  Massachusetts  Volunteers, 


L".  IB 


124 


CENTENNIAL  ADDllESS. 


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A: 


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shot  down  hy  guerrillas  in  ambush,  near  "Washing- 
ton, Koith  Carolina,  November  18, 1802;  aivl  John 
Edward  Hill,  Assistant-surgeon  li)th  Mj;ssaeini- 
setts  Vohniteers,  died  in  the  hospital  at  George- 
town, D.  C,  September  11,  1862,  of  wounds  re- 
ceived a  short  time  previously. 

The  following  medical  officers  in  Massachusetts 
regiments  died,  during  their  term  of  service,  from 
disease  contracted  while  in  the  army: — Neil  K 
Gunn,  Assistant-surgeon  1st  Massachusetts  Vol- 
unteers, June  2,  1803,  at  Falmouth,  Virginia; 
AVilliam  Henry  Heath,  Surgeon,  Jul}  24,  1802,  at 
Chattanooga,  Tennessee,  and  James  Wightman, 
Assistant-surgeon,  June  15, 1803,  at  Acquia  Land- 
ing, Virginia,  both  of  the  2d  Massachusetts  Volun- 
teers; AVilliam  Webster  Claflin,  Assistant-surgeon 
13tli  Massachusetts  Volunteers,  July  25,  1804,  at 
Hudson,  in  this  State;  Eben  Kimball  Sanborn, 
Surgeon  31st  Massachusetts  Volunteers,  April  23, 
1802,  at  ShijD  Island,  Mississippi;  Ariel  Ivers 
Cummings,  Surgeon  42d  Massachusetts  Volunteer 
Militia,  September  9,  1803,  at  Hempstead,  Texas; 
Kobert  Wai'c,  Surgeon  44th  Massachusetts  Vol- 
unteer Militia,  April  10,  1803,  at  Newbern,  North 
Carolina;  Nathaniel  AVells  French.  Assistant-sur- 
geon 50th  Massachusetts  Volunteer  Militia,  April 
21,  1803,  at  Baton  liouge,  Louisiana;  and  Dixi 
Crosby  Hoyt,  Assistant-surgeon  2d  Regiment 
Heavy  Artillery,  November  1,  1864,  at  Newbern, 
Noi'th  Carolina. 

Dr.  Luther  V  Bel],  a  distinguished  fellow  of 
this  Society,  died  February  11,  1802,  in  his  tent  at 


9! 


CENTENNIAL   ADDRESS. 


125 


Cam]i  Balvor,  two  miles  from  Bucld's  Ferry,  Maiy- 
laiul,  while  holding  a  medical  eominission  from  the 
United  States.  Dr.  Lucius  Manlius  Sargent,  Jr., 
who  entered  the  military  service  of  his  country  as 
Surgeon  of  the  2d  IMassachusetts  Yolunteers,  was 
killed  in  the  Virginia  cami)aign,  December  9, 1864, 
while  leading  a  charge  of  the  1st  Massachusetts 
Cavalry,  of  w  hich  regiment  he  was  the  Lieutenant- 
colonel.  He  was  a  skilful  surgeon  as  well  as  an 
intrepid  officer  ;  in  his  death  the  Society  lost  a 
valuable  membei*,  and  the  State  a  gallant  soldier. 

I  might  mention  other  physicians,  fellows  of  this 
Society,  who  since  the  war  have  died  from  disease 
contracted  while  in  the  ai-my.  They  are  as  much 
the  victims  of  their  patriotic  service,  as  if  they  had 
been  killed  in  the  heat  of  battle.  My  friend  and 
classmate,  J.^r.  Anson  Parker  Hooker,  Surgeon  of 
the  26th  Massachusetts  Volunteers,  and  subse- 
quently the  Assistant  Surgeon-general  of  the 
Commonwealth,  died,  December  31,  1873,  from 
the  eflt'ects  of  malaria  received  while  with  his 
regiment.  Dr.  Jonah  Franklin  Dyer,  Surgeon  of 
the  19th  Massachusetts  Volunteers,  died  at  Glou- 
cester, February  9,  1879;  and  he  is  another  fellow 
of  this  Society  who,  from  disease  contracted  in 
the  service,  laid  down  his  life  for  his  country, 
years  after  the  war  was  over,  as  truly  as  if  he  had 
died  in  camp 

The  Massachusetts  Medical  Society  is  now  the 
oldest  state   organization   in   the   country,    of  a 
similar  character,  that  has  held  its  meetings  con- 
tinuously and  regularly  from  the  date  of  its  incor- 
17 


r 


126 


CENTEi^IAFj   ADDKESS. 


i 


i 


'i 

1 

. 

p 

ill 

iii 

Kj. 

t     hnl 

F 

i  1  ■^? 


11 

I'm 


poratioii.  Since  itn  Ibuiulatioii  It  lias  borno  on  its 
rolls  the  names  of  J3,700  persons;  and  to-day  its 
membership  includes  1,IJ50  physicians  coming  from 
all  parts  of  the  Commonwealth.  These  members 
represent  every  section  of  the  State,  and  their  in- 
fluence on  one  another  is  as  innnense  as  it  is  incal- 
culable. The  average  attendance  at  the  annual 
meetings  of  late  years  is  not  iar  from  750  members ; 
these  meetings  last  through  two  days,  and  with 
few  exceptions  have  been  held  in  Boston. 

The  charter  of  the  New  Jersey  Medical  Society 
antedates  that  of  this  Society  by  some  years,  but 
there  have  been  breaks  in  its  regular  line  of  descent. 
During  the  Kevolution  there  was  a  sn8i)ension  of 
its  meetings  from  the  year  1775  to  1781,  which 
was  due  to  the  interrui)tion  of  the  war;  and  then 
again  from  the  year  1795  to  1807,  this  time  owing 
to  a  general  anaemic  condition  of  interest,  on  the 
part  of  its  members. 

We  now  stand  on  the  dividing  line  between  two 
centuries, — the  one  that  is  passed,  and  the  other 
just  beginning, — and  we  can  look  forward  only  so 
far  as  the  light  of  the  past  illumines  the  vision. 
We  see  enough,  however,  to  know  that  new  ideas 
in  the  profession  will  be  established,  and  new 
methods  adopted.  The  physician  of  the  coming 
period  will  have  a  broader  knowledge  of  prevent- 
ive medicine.  The  laws  of  infection  and  contagion 
will  be  better  known,  and  the  daily  conditions  of 
health  and  disease  more  thoroughly  understood. 
The  subtle  connection  between  cause  and  effect 
will  be  more  accurately  defined;  and  what  is  now 


m 


CENTENNIAL  ADDRESS. 


127 


ohscnro  will  be  made  cloar.  The  f^roat  fact  is  to 
be  eni[)hasizcMl  tliat  evorytliin-,^  in  this  lifb  i.s  related 
to  what  hay  gone  l)ef()re,  and  tliat  we  are  what  we 
are  in  consequence  of  antecedent  circumstances. 
We  may  approach  even  to  the  curtain  which  nature 
drops  over  ail  vital  action,  but  there  we  must  stop; 
though  in  other  directions  the  finger  of  Discovery 
points  down  endless  paths  for  investigation.  Yet 
with  all  the  knowledge  that  the  human  intellect 
can  master,  the  great  pi'oblem  of  living  oi-ganism 
will  be  as  far  from  solution  as  it  is  to-day.  Grop- 
ing in  the  dark  in  i-espect  to  first  causes,  we  must 
confess  that  life  is  an  impenetrable  mystery, — tliat 
it  is  something  more  than  chemical  action,  and 
something  beyond  protoplastic  development.  For 
our  purpose  it  is  enough  to  know  that  the  science 
of  medicine  will  continue  to  the  last  point  of 
measured  duration;  and,  l:kc  a  planet  plunging 
on  through  the  immensity  of  space,  in  its  untiring 
and  unending  course,  it  will  shed  its  rays  of  light 
and  consolation  wherever  atoms  of  humanity  are 
found. 


I'll  :  J 


CoRBKCTiON,— page  33,  lino  G. 
For  the  last  sentence  of  the  fl.st  paragraph,  read:  «  Hoar  was 
the  first  president  who  was  a  graduate  of  the  institution,  but 
Rogers  was  an  earlier  graduate  who  became  president  afterward." 


:  VI' 


,  :■'?." 


APPENDIX. 


The  following  letter, — written  by  n  distinguished  scholar, 
whose  knowledge  of  the  native  dialects  of  the  country  is  un- 
surpassed,— has  an  important  bearing  on  the  diagnosis  of  the 
disease,  mentioned  in  page  12  of  the  preceding  Address. 
It  furnishes,  from  a  philological  stand-point,  an  interesting- 
contribution  to  the  discussion  of  the  subject. 


My  Dear  Du.  Grken: 


Hartford,  June  25,  1881. 


Thanks  for  a  copy  of  your  capital  Centennial  Address, — which 
I  have  just  now  finished  reading,  with  much  interest. 

I  see  that  you  incline  to  tiie  helief  that  the  "  proditjious  pesti- 
lence "  which  made  room  for  the  Pilgrims  at  Plymouth,  was  tlie 
small-pox,  and  not  the  yellow-fever.  1  have  not  a  copy  of 
Winslow's  "Good- Newes"  within  reach  this  evening,  and  I  do 
not  recollect  his  statement  that  you  cite,  that  the  same  disease  pre- 
vailed as  late  as  November,  1622.  This  statement  may  be  con- 
clusive against  yellow-fever.  Roger  Williams,  in  "  Key,"  ch.  xxxi. 
shows,  however,  that  the  Indians  had  distinct  names  for  the  "great 
plague"  and  "the  [small]  pox."  1  have  indicated,  in  my  edition 
of  the  Key,  p.  211,  the  composition  of  the  name  for  the  "  plague," 
which  agrees  exactly  with  the  description  of  it  that  the  Indians  gave 
to  Gookin.  "  Weaauashaid,'^  which  Williams  translates,  "  He 
hath  the  plague,"  literally  signifies  "  he  is  badly  yellow,"  and  the 
name  for  the  disease  itself,  wesaunshauonck,  is  "a  bad  yellowing" 
or  "  being  badly  yellow."  I  am  not  quite  certain  of  the  signifi- 
cation of  the  Indian  name  for  the  small-pox,  Mamaskiahaiionck ,  but 
this  name  is  still  in  use — under  various  dialectic  variations — by 
several,  perhaps  by  all  Algonkin  tribes.  For  the  Narraganset 
mamashiHhaui  "he  has  the  small-pox,"  the   Chippeways  have 


m* 


130 


APPENDIX. 


.   !  i  i 

ill  ^'1 


ll 

1  -4 

omamnkisi,  and  for  the  ntimo  of  the  disease,  mamakisi-win, 
(Tlie  tuad,  by  tlio  way,  is  named  l)y  tlie  C'liippeways,  omakiki, 
probably  from  his  warty  skin.)  In  the  western  Cree,  tiie  verb 
b(!comes  vmiki-u,  and  the  noun,  omikhviit, — wliich  is  used  as 
a  name  for  Paora,  as  well  as  for  the  small-pox,  and  also  enters 
into  the  composition  of  the  name  of  leproay,  and  is  nearly  related 
to  the  names  for  meaales  and  ficarlalina.  In  the  western  dialects, 
the  derivation  of  these  names  seems  plainly  enough  to  be  from  a 
root  denoting  redness;  and  if  so,  the  Narraganset  (and  INIassa- 
chusetts)  name  for  the  small-pox  must  have  been  derived  from 
that  of  some  earlier-known  disease,  which  signified  "  redness  of 
skin"  or  "eruption"  (Psora?),  by  intensive  reduplication  and  the 
sidRx  de:  Mng  badness, — »o  as  to  give  the  meaning  of  a  "  very 
great  bad  redness"  or  cutaneous  eruption. 

As  I  have  said,  Roger  Williams  shows  that  the  small-pox  and 
"  the  great  plague,"  were  distinguished  by  the  Indians  of  New 
England  by  different  names.  They  told  him.  HJ-JT-JS,  of  "the 
last  pox"  and  "the  great  [literally,  the  /as/]  plague." — and  di;  g- 
nosed  tlie  two  as  well  as  they  could  do  by  single  words:  •'  the  late 
great  eruption"  and  "the  late  great  yellowing,  or  yellowness." 
Eliot  evidently  identified  the  "yellowing"  with  a  "fever."  — for 
while  he  uses  wesaushdunk  for  "  pestileiuie."  in  Psalm  xci.  ?>.  G, 
and  I^uke  xxi.  11,  and  tor  "plague"  (rarely)  as  in  Luke  vii.  21, 
he  also  uses  the  verb  iV/^osJiau,  for  "  she  was  sick  of  a  fever,"  in 
jNIatt.  viii.  14,  INIark  i.  liO. 

One  word  more:  we  had  in  Connecticut.  I  tluni.  an  earlier 
autopsy  than  yours  of  1()74.  In  iMaich.  HitJj.  the  CJeii.  Court 
allowed  Mr.  15ryan  Rossetter — at  that  date  tiie  only  regularly 
educated  physician  and  surgeon  within  many  miles  of  Hartford- 
payment  *"  in  reference  to  opening  Kellie's  cliild."  and  for  other 
professional  services.  See  Conn.  Col.  Records,  i.  .'V.Hi.  It  is  not, 
I  admit,  absolutely  certain,  that  Kelley's  child  died  be/ore  the 
opening.  Very  truly  yours, 

J.  H.  TRUMBULL. 

P.  S.  June  27th.  Looking  at  Bradford's  History,  this  morn- 
ing, I  see  that  he  observes  (p.  .520)  that  the  Indians  were  more 
afraid  of  the  small-pox  tlian  of  the  plague.  Winslow  does  7iot 
identify  the  disease  prevalent  in  Massachusetts  in  1(522,  with  the 
plague  of  1G17-1«, — though  he  says  (ou  hearsay,  of  course) 
thai  it  was  very  like  it,  if  not  the  same. 


APPENDIX. 


131 


.Tank  Hawkins,  who  acted  ms  midwife  at  the  delivery  of 
Mary  DyeiV  monstrosity,  mentioned  in  paye  27.  was  "her- 
self a  physician  of  some  notoriety.  According  to  Governor 
V>  inthrop, — 

"she  used  to  give  younof  women  oil  of  mandrakes  and  otlier 
stiift  to  cause  conception;  and  slie  grew  into  great  suspicion  to  he 
a  witch,  tor  it  was  credihiy  reported,  that,  wlien  slie  gave  anv 
nuMhenies  (tor  she  practised  idiysic.)  slie  wo.dd  ask  the  partv  it- 
she  di(l  helieve,  she  could  help  her."— (- The  History  of  IXew 
I'.nghuid,"  1.  iJlO.)  / 

Thomas  Welde,    in    "A    Short   Story,"    etc.    (London, 
1<)44),  says  that  slie  was  "notorious  for  familiarity  with  the 
devdi."— (Page  44.)       Her  reputation  in  the  comnumity 
was  anything  hut  good.      She  was  looked  upon  as  u  witch 
and  for  that  reason  greatly  feared   by  her  neighbors.      Her 
case  was  considere.'  at  the  session  of  the  (leneral  Court 
beguining  March  12,  1037-8,  when  it  is  recorded  that—    ' 
"June  Hawkins  the  wife  of  Richrd  Hawkins  had  liberty  till 
the  beginning  of  the  third  m"  called  May,  &  the  magistrates  (if 
shee  did  not  depart  before)   to  dispose  of  her,  &  in  the  meane 
tune  shee  is  not  to  meddle  in  surgery,  or  physick,  drinks,  or  oyles 
nor  to  (jucstion  matters  of  religion  except  w'"  the  elders  for  satis- 
taction.  — (General  Court  Kecords,  i.  219.) 

The  effect  of  this  order  is  not  known  ;  but  some  years 
later  summary  steps  were  taken  to  get  rid  of  her  without 
much  previous  notice.     At  the  session  of  the  General  Court 
bcgmnmg  June  2,  1041,  it  was  yoted  that— 

"Jane  Hawkins  is  enioyned  to  depart  away  tomorrow  morning 
&  not  to  returne  againo  hither  upon  paine  of  severe  whinpin-r  Tt 
such  other  punishment,  as  the  Court  shall  thinke  meete.  &'her 
sonnes  stand  bound  in  20.'.  to  carry  her  away  according  to  order." 
— (General  Court  Kecords,  i.  'M'J.) 


